In the Locker Room, No One Can Hear You Scream
by Crazy Stairs
Summary: While investigating the rapes and murders of two high school boys, Tom Hanson and Doug Penhall find themselves taken captive by the murderers. Now they must fight to keep their identities as cops under wraps, to keep themselves and each other safe, and try to escape before they meet the same horrible fate as the two murdered boys. Rated for violence, mention of rape, and language.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1:

Down in the locker room of Williams High School sat two boys. But they were not boys. They were men who looked like boys; men who were cops, but who posed as boys at high schools in order to keep the real students safe from corrupt society, corrupt teachers, and corrupt peers.

These boyish men were officers Doug Penhall and Tom Hanson, and their investigation was not going well. They had been called onto a case involving two boys who had been murdered. The police suspected the murderer(s) to be somehow affiliated with the school, possibly peers of the deceased boys.

Whatever they had been right or wrong about in this investigation didn't matter much now. Tom and Doug had found the murderers. There were two, and both were surprising, as they were school staff: a janitor, Mr. Gale, and the school's own principal, Mr. Wallace Stern. But the murderers had found Tom and Doug at the precise same moment the officers had found them, and it hadn't been good timing on the officers' part.

The suspects ambushed the two cops. They caught Doug first and threatened to kill him if Tom didn't cooperate. Despite Doug's pleas for him to do otherwise, Tom agreed to go with them, and the suspects dragged them both down to the locker room, deep down below the school where no one could hear them in these late hours of the evening. Even if they screamed, only their captors would hear, and that would only make them angrier than they already were.

Wallace Stern, the school's principal led Tom down to the basement while the janitor led Doug in the same direction. The principal was a rather large man, maybe about fifty years old. He had a buzz cut hair style that looked like it had been bleached blonde. Doug wasn't sure if it was dyed or natural, but he didn't really care either.

"Mr. Stern," Doug heard his partner's pleading voice, "No one knows you're involved in any of this... If you just let us go now, we'll back off and pretend none of this ever happened," the younger of the two officers was visibly and audibly breathing rapidly in terror as the school's principal roughly pushed his arms behind him and hand-cuffed them to a metal pipe.

"Shut up," the man growled, slapping Tom's face somewhat softly and then bringing his hand back to mess up the young man's dark hair.

Tom winced and shrunk back, but his restraints wouldn't let him go far. As far as the suspects knew, Hanson and Penhall were seventeen and eighteen year old students. They didn't know the boys were actually men who were trying to investigate their crimes, "you haven't done anything but beat us up a little... If you just let us go now, we won't press charges... We'll just go our separate ways..."

Doug nodded, "the longer you keep us here, the more trouble you'll get in. Let us go now, the trouble will be gone. If you shoot us or stab us," he paused, looking over at Hanson who flinched slightly with each word. Doug looked back at the principal who still stood menacingly over his partner, "if you kill us... there's no way you won't go to jail."

"What makes you think we'll kill you?" the second man asked. He was the janitor, Mr. Gale, a tall, slender man with a receding hairline. He was the one who had locked Doug up, much quicker than the principal had locked up the other officer.

Penhall shrugged, "I dunno," he frowned, "what exactly are you planning to do with us?"

"Ooooh," the janitor smirked in a way Doug could only describe as evil, "I don't know... Maybe we could do to you what we did with our other little friends..."

"Shut up," the principal hissed under his breath, "we didn't do anything to anyone else... remember?" Doug half-expected the guy to even wink for effect.

"Right," Gale raised his eyebrows as he turned away, laughing slightly.

Doug looked over at Tom whose eyes were wide. He shook his head very slightly, trying to tell Doug not to press that matter. These guys had killed those two boys. Tom and Doug knew that. But they couldn't let the suspects know that they knew. If Tom and Doug wanted to get out of this alive, their best chance was to fake ignorance about these people's previous crimes.

"We'll do what we want with you," the janitor, Mr. Gale smirked.

Penhall frowned but decided it was probably best to stay silent for now. As much as he wanted to be angry and yell at this guy, he knew it was likely he'd get both himself as well as Tom hurt by being aggressive now.

Doug watched as Mr. Stern narrowed his eyes which were focused downward on Tom who was sitting, leaning against the pipes he had been chained to, "you boys normally go home after school?"

Tom frowned. He looked quite confused as he looked up at the principal, "yeah..." he finally said, "well, eventually... Um... not always right away..."

"Is anyone missing you right now? And don't you fucking lie to me," the man squatted down and leaned in very close to the young officer, "if things don't go my way, you're going to find yourself in bloody pieces all over the floor really quick."

Tom's eyes widened, "I don't think so," he gasped.

"Our parents don't keep real good tabs on us," Doug added, trying to take the man's focus off of his partner.

Tom must have sensed what Doug was up to, and he must have not approved, because he quickly took the man's focus right back, "Why? How long you planning on keeping us here?"

Stern shrugged and stood up. He walked away without another word.

Doug watched as Gale followed him, and listened to the sound of both men's footfalls on the stairs leading up to the gym. Now that he was sure he and Hanson were alone, he looked over at his partner and frowned.

"You do realize what's going on here, right?" he asked.

Tom nodded, "I'm not an idiot. I've been working on the same case as you have."

"I don't mean to scare you, Hanson," Doug frowned, "but judging by everything we've collected on this case, it looks like you're going to be their next victim."

"And then you," Tom added.

"I'm not really their type," Doug noted.

"You're basing that on only two prior victims. Who knows? They might be willing to take anyone... And they aren't going to just let you go after you witness them killing me," Tom sounded angry.

Penhall felt his heart sink at the thought of having to watch Tom being killed, "I wasn't trying to make this into a contest," he frowned, "I'm sure they'd kill me too... But I'm more worried about what they'll do before they kill us."

Tom pouted. He must have known what Doug was referring to. The two boys who had been killed before had been sixteen and eighteen year old boys from Williams High. They had been tortured, raped, and stabbed to death. These two boys also happened to be gay. When Tom and Doug had gone undercover, Tom was purposefully not forthcoming when some students asked him about his sexuality. Because the murders seemed to possibly be hate crimes, Hanson had thought he might be able to lure their suspects in with the introduction of a new student who might be gay.

He didn't know that the murderers were in fact, not the students they had fingered as suspects in the beginning. While the two cops were busy focusing on a group of students who were known to vandalize the LBGT club's bulletin board, they had no idea the principal and janitor were focusing on them.

Tom Hanson shared physical similarities with the two victims. They were both dark-haired, both attractive, white males... Doug had no idea how much trouble they were getting themselves into by purposefully making Hanson a target. If he had known, he'd have never let it happen.

"Maybe Fuller will notice we're gone and send someone after us before anything happens," Tom offered, shrugging and forcing a half-smile.

"We weren't scheduled to check in at the chapel until 7:30," Doug frowned.

"What time is it now?" Tom asked.

Penhall shrugged, "I think it was near five when they dragged us down here," he frowned, "and since we've been showing up late to Jump Street for the past couple of days, Fuller might not even think anything of it."

Tom was visibly uneasy. His eyebrows were knitted together and he looked like he felt sick, "what should we do?" he shifted, making the chains of the cuffs around his wrists make clanking sounds against the pipes.

"Just try to stall them, I guess," Doug decided, "I doubt we'll convince them to just let us go, so our best hope is to try to wait it out until someone comes looking for us."

"Should we tell them we're cops?" Tom wondered, "I mean, not right away, but if we get desperate... It might make them scared to do anything to us."

"Or it might make them want to kill us more," Doug winced, "but I guess if they seem like they're ready to kill us, we might as well... We'd have nothing to lose. I wouldn't want them figuring out on their own... You don't have your ID on you, do you?"

Tom frowned. He looked down as though ashamed, "yeah," he looked back up slightly, "it's in my back pocket."

Doug felt his own shoulders slump, "can you get it out and maybe throw it in a corner or something? Why are you carrying it with you?"

"I don't know..." Tom sighed, "you never know when you might need it... The last thing you'd want would be to not have your ID when you're trying to arrest someone."

Penhall smiled, "I think maybe it would be worse to have your ID on you when a murderer is checking your pockets for weapons while holding you hostage..."

Tom frowned, "I guess..." He fumbled awkwardly, trying to reach his bound hands into his back pocket for his ID and badge. But before he could grasp it, he heard footfalls coming back down the stairs. Apparently he decided leaving it in his pocket was a safer approach than trying to grab it and throw it to the side before their captors reached the bottom of the stairs.

"How're you doing, boys?" Mr. Stern's voice echoed down into the locker room.

Doug and Tom locked eyes for a moment. Doug felt quite unsure and saw Tom's eyes mimicking that feeling.

Stern immediately walked right up to Tom, "I see you two are ignoring me," he growled, squatting down next to Hanson, "you mad at me?"

Tom shrugged, "I'd be less angry if you'd unlock us," he forced a half-grin.

Stern did not seem amused by that remark. He reached out and hit Tom, hard, right across his cheek.

Hanson yelped. He tried to pull his hands up to shield himself from the possibility of the principal striking him again, but the chains would not allow it. Stern hovered over him for a moment and then hit him again, hard, right in the ribs, causing Tom to double forward in pain.

Before Doug could even think, he found himself calling out, "Stop it!" He could hear the sickening sound of the handcuffs' chain grinding against the pipe Hanson was chained to as his partner tried hopelessly to free his hands.

"You know," Stern started, standing up and turning away from Tom. Now he was facing Doug, who stared up at him angrily, "You boys say you're brothers, but I'm not really sure I buy that... You look nothing alike."

Penhall shrugged, "We're half-brothers," he lied, "Got the same mom."

"And she must be a real slut," Stern laughed, "she has you," he pointed at Doug, "with one guy. Divorces him... or whatever... And then gets pregnant with another kid within the year, with another guy?"

Doug shrugged, "While I don't appreciate you calling our mother a slut, I do not have any explanation for the timing of her pregnancies... That's not exactly something a guy asks his mom about, you know?"

"Yeah..." Mr. Stern sounded unsure. He looked at Doug as though he was trying to read something off him, trying to see something about him that he wasn't coming right out and saying, "there's something up with you two... I don't think I believe that you're really brothers."

Penhall sighed, "Well... we are. There's not much else I can say about it... You don't have to believe me. I don't see why it matters either."

"I just don't like people lying to me, see?" the principal glared.

Doug felt his heart pounding in his chest. He knew if he kept up this lie, they would be in a world of danger once Stern found out. But he also knew if he told the man they were cops now, he might snap and kill them both, or be so angry with them that he'd do something even worse. He hoped he and Hanson could just keep up this ruse until Fuller or somebody came looking for them.

"If you guys aren't brothers... then what are you up to?" Stern wondered out loud, not really speaking to anyone but himself, "friends? lovers?" he looked up at Doug.

Doug frowned, "no... We really are brothers," he insisted, "and besides... Neither of us is even gay."

"Nah... I'm pretty sure this one is," he gestured toward Tom who had remained silent up until this point.

"I'm not," his voice was small, but loud enough to draw the principal's attention.

"What's that?" Stern turned around and stared down at him. Doug wished Tom would have just kept his mouth shut. The principal seemed to be more focused on Tom, like he was more angry at him than at Doug. He was trying his best at keeping the man's attention off of Hanson, but Hanson kept drawing him back in.

"I'm not gay," Hanson shrugged. His eyes were wide and he looked scared, yet he didn't cower. Doug was certain his partner's heart was probably pounding even harder than his own. He could see that Tom was trying to remain strong and brave, even though he likely didn't feel very secure in this situation.

"Why then were you getting so chummy with Greg Middleton?" Stern asked, "He's the most obvious queer at this damn school... He's lucky no one's beat him to death yet."

Tom continued staring up at the man, "You know, you can be friends with gay people without actually being gay yourself... I just thought he seemed nice. I was new; he was friendly, so we hung out with each other." Hanson didn't mention the fact that he actually made friends with the boy because he and Doug saw him as a potential future victim.

"Um hm," Stern didn't sound convinced.

"Listen," Doug cut in before Tom could say something to offend the man, "our offer still stands... You let us go and you'll never hear from us again. We won't press charges or anything."

Mr. Stern did not turn around. In fact, he didn't acknowledge that Doug had spoken at all. Instead, he bent down over Tom so that their noses were practically touching. Tom pushed himself back against the wall and sunk down slightly.

"You got your ID on you?" Mr. Stern asked.

Tom's eyebrows knitted together, "no," he squeaked.

"No license or anything?" he patted Tom's thighs where his front pockets were on his jeans. Doug hoped he wouldn't think to check his partner's back pockets. If he found Tom's ID, he'd see the cop badge and would likely be furious, "I just don't believe you two are brothers..."

"I don't have a license yet," Tom lied.

"I saw you driving into the school lot," the principal noted.

Tom shrugged, "Doug let me... I'm old enough to drive; I just haven't gotten my license yet. Turn me in to the cops if you don't like it." Doug wanted to tell Hanson to stop being so sarcastic. If he kept it up, he was going to make the man angry again.

Stern turned around and looked at Doug, "you got yours?"

Doug shrugged, "I'm not sure. If I do, it's in my front pants pocket," he knew he didn't have his license. He purposefully left it behind just in case something like this happened. His wallet in his front pocket had only cash in it. But he was perfectly willing to waste a bit of the principal's time by letting him look for it, find it, dig through it, and find nothing of value.

Mr. Stern shuffled over to Doug, squatted down in front of him, and pulled his wallet out of his pocket. He opened it up and sifted through it. Just as Doug already knew, it only contained cash, "why the hell don't you guys carry your ID's on you?" Stern asked as he threw the wallet rather roughly back at Doug.

Doug flinched back, "I just don't keep track of it; that's all. It's got to be in my car or locker or something," he told him, "besides, seeing our ID's isn't going to prove anything. We do have different last names, but it's because we have different fathers."

Stern pocketed the twenty five dollars he found in Doug's wallet and then made his way back over to Tom, "you got any money at least?" he asked, reaching down and feeling Tom's pockets again.

"I don't," Tom lied. Doug watched his partner across the room. He looked nervous, and rightfully so. If Mr. Stern checked his back pockets, both Tom as well as Doug would likely be goners.

The principal's hands were moving back toward Tom's back pockets. Doug could see it in his partner's eyes that he knew they were doomed.

"You won't need money when you're in prison," Doug called out, trying anything to distract the man. When that didn't work, Penhall continued, "You gay or something?" he was desperately trying to ruffle the man's feathers, and saying anything he could think of to draw his attention away from Tom, "that why you kill gay kids? Kind of homophobic because you're scared of yourself?"

Doug's heart sank as he saw Stern turn around to face him. He was holding Tom's wallet, but he hadn't opened it yet, "I'm not a fag," the man walked up to Doug and slapped him very hard. Doug winced. Not knowing what else to do, he kicked out, trying to trip the man or something so that he'd forget about the wallet. His kick was unsuccessful in tripping the principal, but it did succeed in knocking him back a little.

"You little son of a bitch," Stern was visibly angry, but still held onto the wallet. He was right back in front of Doug in an instant, hitting him over and over. Doug didn't know if he had abandoned the wallet or not. He was too busy concentrating on himself now.

"Stop!" he heard Hanson cry out from across the room, "you're hurting him! Stop!" he pleaded.

"Oh, am I?" Mr. Stern finally stopped and turned back toward Tom. He picked up the wallet from the floor where he had dropped it and flipped it open. For a moment, all three of the men were completely silent.

Both Doug and Tom knew what the principal was seeing inside Tom's wallet, and they knew they were too late to do anything about it.

"You guys are fucking cops," Stern growled.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2:

"Since when do they send cops pretending to be students into high schools?" Mr. Stern yelled, throwing Tom's wallet at back at him.

The wallet hit him right in the chest. He flinched back, not because he was in pain, but because he was startled, "we go undercover when there's crime in high schools... It's just like going undercover anywhere else. We've got to pretend to be students so we can find out who is involved in the crimes, or find evidence against those people," Tom explained. He wasn't sure if the man's question had been rhetorical, but he figured he might as well answer it. It wasn't as though Stern was going to become any more angry than he already was.

"And you don't even think to tell the principal? Is that even legal?" he growled.

"Well," Doug cut in, "we can't really tell anyone, because we don't always know if everyone will cooperate. If we had told you, and you didn't agree to let us do it, we couldn't very well send in cops anyway, because you'd be suspicious of two new students right after we asked for your cooperation with an undercover case..."

"And," Tom added, "sometimes the principal ends up being the criminal we're sent in to find..."

Stern exhaled loudly. He was very obviously frustrated and angry.

"Listen," Tom started again, "by now I'm sure you know what a serious situation you've gotten yourself into. Not to say we wouldn't make a big deal of this anyway, but you know when you commit a crime against the police, the other police officers are going to come down on you really hard. If you just let us go, we'll all forget all about this. Doug and I will withdraw from enrollment, tell our captain that our cover was blown, and even tell them we think no one at the school was involved in the murders of the other boys."

Tom was lying, but he was happy to do so if it meant he could get himself and Doug out of here unscathed. There was no way he'd let these guys get away with killing those two boys. No chance in hell. But if telling a little lie would save himself and his partner, he was perfectly willing to do so.

"Do you think I'm a fucking idiot?" Stern growled, moving in closer to Tom. He could see the man was actually shaking slightly with anger, "We killed two gay kids and kidnapped two cops... We're fucked. We might as well do whatever the hell we want with you. Have fun while we can. Why the fuck should we give in now?"

Tom frowned. Before he could plead his case further, Doug had already stepped in by commenting from across the room.

"Come on, man," he sounded nervous, "we can work out some sort of deal. Even if the other cops decide to keep pursuing this, we can work something out. There's a hell of a difference between killing two people and killing four people."

"You get the death penalty sometimes just for killing one," the janitor Mr. Gale's voice echoed from somewhere. How long had he been listening? He walked into Tom's line of vision and continued speaking, looking right at Tom as he spoke, "I say we do what we want with 'em. Have our fun, kill 'em. Then leave. We'll try to get out of the country, and if we fail, we'll go to prison. We'd be going anyway. At least this way they won't be around as witnesses. Without these two, maybe no one will even know we did these guys, or the other ones."

"Let's not be so hasty now, fellas," Doug pleaded, but neither of the two men were paying attention to him. They were both still looking at Tom. Doug kept talking anyway, "I swear we won't say anything. You can just leave us here chained up and get a head start on getting out of the country. Even if someone finds us soon, we won't say anything about you guys. I know I'm willing to make that promise in exchange for my life. I'm sure Tom is too, right Tom?"

Tom locked eyes with Doug, who was nodding, silently telling him to agree, "yeah," Tom agreed, "We won't breathe a word."

"You won't breathe anything after we're through with you," Gale laughed as he elbowed Stern in the side.

Stern smacked his hand away, "you don't touch him," he growled, "you can have at it with the other one."

The janitor frowned, "why can't we share 'em both?"

"Because I organized this. You're just tagging along," Stern reminded him.

Tom and Doug locked eyes. Tom noticed Doug looked extremely worried. His eyebrows were knitted together and he was frowning. It wasn't often he saw his partner this nervous. Tom hoped Fuller or someone would come looking for them soon. It was beginning to look like they might not have much time left.

"Why don't you stay down here with our friend Douglas," Mr. Stern suggested to Mr. Gale.

Tom felt his eyes growing wide as Stern moved in toward him, "what are you gonna do?" he wondered out loud. He felt himself retracting back, wishing he could sink into the wall.

"Don't worry kid," Stern smiled a smile which did not look at all reassuring or kind, "I'm just taking you into the other room so we can have a chat. As long as you don't fight me, we won't hurt your friend. Can you agree to that?" he reached behind Tom and unlocked his handcuffs.

Tom was frozen. Ordinarily, in a situation like this, he would have been waiting for such an opportunity. The minute the handcuffs were unlocked, he would have done anything possible to get away. But not when they were threatening Doug.

Stern was still looking at him as though waiting for an answer, "hmm?" he asked as he pulled Tom to his feet, "you gonna be a good boy?"

"Yeah," Tom whispered, looking up at the man who suddenly seemed much taller than he ever had before. Maybe it was because Tom was cowering down a bit.

Tom looked over at Doug who seemed to be having a very tough time keeping his mouth shut, "don't hurt him," he pleaded, "we can get you money or whatever you want..."

"Don't worry about it," Stern assured him, "Tommy's gonna be fine."

Penhall didn't look convinced. He opened his mouth as though he was about to say something more, but Tom spoke first.

"Don't worry about me, Doug," he forced a small grin. He figured he had a pretty good chance of coming out of this alive, this part at least. From what they knew of the other murders, it seemed like the victims were kept alive for a few hours before finally being killed. These men were probably not through with them yet. They likely wanted to play with them a bit first. That was something he dreaded as well, but at least it meant he probably wasn't going to die yet.

Doug exhaled loudly. He was obviously frustrated, obviously wanted to keep arguing, but also must have known there was nothing he could say to make this situation any better. So he just forced a sympathetic smile back, but his eyebrows remained furrowed in worry.

"Come along," Stern ordered, leading Hanson away. As long as Mr. Stern wasn't being too rough, Tom decided he'd just cooperate. There would be no point in trying to wriggle free of his grasp when he knew Doug was still in their clutches. If they didn't get out of this together, Tom didn't want to get out of it at all. He'd feel guilty forever if he left Doug behind and something happened to him.

But just in case he really was being led off to his death, Tom decided to say one last thing to his friend. If he was going to die, he didn't want his last words to one of the people he cared about most in the world to just be meaningless, "you're a good friend, Doug," Tom called back, glancing over his shoulder at the other officer.

Penhall looked confused and worried, "you too, man..." he said back, "I'll see you later," he added, his eyes somehow looking more determined. He must have sensed that Tom was preparing for the worst, and didn't want to even consider that possibility.

Tom smiled at him, wondering if this would be the last time he saw his best friend. Mr. Stern tugged on his arms, leading him toward the stairs that led back up to the ground floor. Before he knew it, Doug was out of sight, and all he had to worry about was what Mr. Stern's plans for him were...


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Tom's hands were now cuffed in front of him. The principal had re-cuffed them, probably to make it harder for Tom to escape if he got the chance. The cuffs sure were starting to make his wrists hurt..

Mr. Stern led Hanson down the hallway and to a small classroom. The room only had about ten student desks. It must have either been a room reserved for some super-advanced class hardly anyone took, or for tutoring... There was a teacher's desk in the front, and another in the back. Maybe it was some sort of special ed room.

Tom shook his head very slightly, closing his eyes in frustration with himself. Why was he analyzing the room?

Stern shoved him further into the room. Tom stumbled forward and then turned around to face his captor. The principal closed the door and locked it with a key. He then put that key into his front right pants pocket.

Being a police officer, Tom was used to noticing little details like this. Being able to focus on all of these little things usually helped him out. However, he knew that even if he escaped this room, the chances of him being able to get Doug out of there as well were slim. Where were the handcuff keys? He didn't know. And even if he did, what were the chances he'd be able to steal the keys to this room and then successfully steal the handcuff keys as well? And then actually getting the two of them out of the building was another story entirely. Mr. Stern and Mr. Gale probably had weapons. If they were planning on killing them like they had those other two boys, they must have something...

For a moment, Stern just looked at him, so Hanson looked back, narrowing his eyes and scrutinizing the older man's face. He looked a bit amused. Seeing the cruel man's small smirk made Tom feel butterflies in his stomach.

He wanted to ask what was going on, but he didn't want to rush this at all. If he could buy himself some time, maybe it would save his life. He just hoped Gale wasn't doing anything cruel to Doug. He wondered if he would be able to hear if Doug screamed.

Mr. Stern was narrowing his eyes now. Tom was just standing and staring at him. With the older man staring him down as though he were some sort of predatory animal cornering a mouse, Tom felt the room was much smaller than it had seemed when they walked in. It was a small room, of course, but was growing smaller, at least in Tom's mind.

Stern took a step forward. Tom took a step back.

They did this again, and again, and one more time, until Tom found himself backing into a bookshelf. He tried to put his hands back to catch himself, but then remembered they were secured in front of him. He hadn't hit the shelf that hard though. He wished he could sink through it, because Stern was right in front of him in no time.

"You and your partner are awfully close," he noted, his face uncomfortably close to Tom's.

Tom leaned his head back as far as the shelf he was backed up against would allow. It wasn't very far at all, "yeah," he gasped, "you work with someone doing something important and it's easy to become pretty close with them. We depend on each other during life or death cases... It would be difficult not to become friends."

"Well, isn't that sweet?" Stern grinned.

Tom just looked at him, sensing that was likely a rhetorical question.

"I think he's kind of jealous," Mr. Stern continued, "when he saw you and I were going off on our own without him, he looked pretty sad," he made a fake pouting expression and then laughed, "he's gonna be pissed if I do something to you."

Hanson exhaled a quick, short breath, "Well, it's not jealousy... It's concern for his friend... Neither of us wants to see the other get hurt." He looked up at Stern for a second and then added, "that's obvious."

"He'd be livid if I did to you what I did to those boys..." Stern didn't even seem to be speaking to Tom anymore, but rather thinking out loud. Then his eyes focused back on Tom. He stared deeply into Hanson's eyes, "Do you know what I did to them?"

Tom gulped, "well, pretty much. Autopsies were performed. Since we're investigating the case, we were made privy to that information and used the details to reconstruct what happened. They were kept captive for likely a few hours, their hands were bound at some point. We knew that because there were rope burns on their wrists," he didn't really feel he needed to say all this, but again, he was trying to waste as much time as he could.

The longer he could keep himself alive, the longer he could keep Stern occupied, the better chance he'd have of someone coming to look for him. He just hoped if someone did come looking for them, it wouldn't just be one person all alone. The last thing they needed was for Ioki or Hoffs to come in alone and just get killed as well. They needed back up.

So Tom kept explaining everything he knew about the case, "They were covered in bruises, and a few cuts, so we could guess they were beaten. One of them, Victor, had bruised knuckles and his own fingernails cut into his palm, so we guess he fought back, unsuccessfully. They were raped, and finally killed, by being stabbed to death."

Stern raised his eyebrow, smiled a bit, and nodded his head, "not bad, detective," he laughed, "one would think you'd actually been there."

"Well, there's a lot of evidence that can be collected after the crime," he informed the principal, "finding out what happened isn't so hard. Finding who did it isn't always easy."

"But you found us, didn't you?" Stern smiled and clapped him on the shoulder.

Tom gasped and shrunk back at the physical contact.

Mr. Stern put his other hand on Tom's other shoulder and leaned in close as Tom tried to disappear into the book shelf, "What would Douglas do if I did all those things to you?" he whispered.

"He'd probably try to kill you," Tom said and then shut his mouth tight, trying to keep his jaw from trembling. He stared right into Stern's eyes, though he wanted to look away. He needed to appear un-phased, even though he was terrified on the inside.

"What if I did everything but kill you. And then gave you back to him. Would he still be protective of you, or would he consider you ruined? Would he just not know how to deal with you anymore?" Stern wondered. Again, his eyes kind of glazed over as though he was more thinking out loud than actually speaking to Tom.

"We'd get over it," Tom did his best to remain cool. Of course he didn't want to be beaten or raped, but he figured Stern probably wanted him to be scared. He wanted Tom to react as though this would be the end of the world. He figured if he just kept his cool, maybe the man wouldn't find so much pleasure in taunting him like this.

"Let's do an experiment then," the principal suggested, "you learned all about experiments in science class, I'm sure. Both when you were actually in high school as well as now that you're back..."

Tom remained stoic, forced himself to stand up straighter and did everything he could to will himself not to cower down or shake.

"What if I do this," Stern began and then paused, tilting his head slightly and narrowing his eyes at Tom as he looked him up and down.

Hanson remained unmoving and simply looked at the man, wondering what he was going to do. He didn't have to wonder long though. Out of nowhere, Mr. Stern punched him hard in the stomach.

Tom doubled over. He would have fallen to the floor had Stern not caught him by the arm. He tried to move his hands up to defend himself, but as they were cuffed together, with Stern holding one of his arms, the other was unable to move much out of range of the first.

He looked up at Stern, who smiled and then hit him again, this time allowing him to fall to the floor. Tom tried to push himself back up with his cuffed hands together on the floor, but Stern put his foot on the officer's back and pushed him back down.

Tom was determined to not plead for mercy. He knew he would not receive it, and didn't want to give Stern any sort of satisfaction from his desperation. So he remained silently lying on the floor, wincing slightly in pain.

The next thing he knew was Stern kicking him over onto his back. The man reached down toward Tom's chest. Not knowing what the man was planning, Tom brought his hands up in an attempt to push him away.

"Come on now," Stern sounded like he was scolding a misbehaving child, "just hold still."

But Tom didn't know what the principal was planning, and he didn't want to just hold still and let whatever it was happen, "what are you doing?" he asked as he pushed the man's hands back again.

"Just unbuttoning your shirt," Stern grinned.

Tom fought back harder now. He didn't even want to ask why the man would want his shirt unbuttoned. He pushed Stern's groping fingers away and tried to back himself up. He only succeeded in backing himself into a corner.

Mr. Stern pushed him back down every time he tried to stand, "don't be difficult, kid," Stern growled as he reached back into his pocket.

Tom swallowed, unable to keep his eyes off Stern's hands. He figured the man was reaching for some sort of weapon. What else could it be?

As he guessed, the principal pulled a knife out of his pocket. A switchblade, to be precise. Tom pushed himself further against the wall, but still tried to remain as calm as possible. He even tried to raise his hands in surrender, but only succeeded in raising them both up to about chest level, "take it easy," Hanson managed to squeak out of his very parched throat.

"You take it easy, son," Stern laughed. Tom wanted to kick himself. He hoped he didn't appear too frightened, because that was exactly what he was trying to avoid. Stern continued speaking as he moved the knife closer to Tom, "you can unbutton your own shirt if you'd prefer," he offered, "I don't want to cut you. But if you continue acting like a little brat, I might have to."

"Okay," Tom gasped, "just relax..." Keeping his eyes on the principal's knife, Tom unbuttoned the flannel shirt he wore over a long-sleeved white shirt, "okay?" he looked into Stern's eyes, trying to judge what was going to happen next.

Stern narrowed his eyes as he looked up and down Tom's torso, "hold still," he instructed as he brought the knife right up to Tom's chest.

Hanson held his breath. Was this going to be where he died? The knife was right over his heart now. One quick thrust and he'd be done for. But Stern didn't keep the knife there. Instead he moved it up closer to Tom's neck.

"What are you going to do?" Tom asked, feeling his composure slipping away. Stern didn't act like he'd heard Hanson. He was beginning to panic, "killing cops is different than killing teenagers... I know it doesn't sound right, but I don't make the rules," Tom started babbling as Stern pressed the side of the knife's blade against the skin on his neck.

Tom sucked in a panicked breath and continued, "killing anyone is equally wrong, but when you kill a normal person, the cops investigate, and it's done. They find you or they don't, and only certain cops investigate. The others stick to their own jurisdiction," his voice was becoming quite frantic, "when a cop is killed, pretty much all the other cops take it personally. The cops I'm friends with will come after you; cops I don't even know will come after you. If you just let us go, you might get away with this. But if you add two cops to your list of murders, you can bet you're going to have to watch your back forever."

The principal moved the knife lower, grabbed the collar of Tom's white under-shirt and pulled it forward. Then he stuck the knife carefully through the raised up part of the shirt. "I'm not going to kill you, Tommy," Mr. Stern laughed, "not yet at least. I'm just messing with you."

Tom kept his breath hitched in his throat. He could feel the tip of the blade against his skin and still wasn't certain he was out of the woods on this. Stern pulled on Tom's shirt and dragged the knife downward, cutting the shirt, but also nicking Tom's skin.

Hanson winced and looked down. Stern ripped the shirt downward so that Hanson's chest and stomach were exposed. The shirt's collar was still in tact, so Stern also took the liberty to rip it further so that it mostly just hung in tattered rags to his sides. There was a small cut about an inch long on his chest. It didn't seem too deep, but was still bleeding.

He looked back up and into Stern's eyes. The principal's gaze was transfixed on Tom's chest. It really made him want to pull his shirt back together and cover himself, but he remained completely still, just waiting for whatever was going to happen next.

"Let's put your hands behind your back instead," Stern decided, reaching into his pocket for the handcuffs key.

"Why?" Tom backed up, or rather tried to. The wall wasn't moving any, so backing up was just as impossible now as it had been a moment before.

"Because I say so," Mr. Stern smirked, "you kids ask too many questions. Don't worry," he added, "I said I wouldn't kill you yet, and I intend to keep that promise. Just go with it, and you'll see your buddy again."

Tom remained still as the principal unlocked the cuffs. For a moment he contemplated trying to wrestle the knife away from him and running for the locker room. He could threaten Gale, the janitor, with the knife and get him to let Doug go. Then they could both be out of there in no time... But if he failed, he and Doug would probably both get killed, if not immediately, after a horrible stretch of torture. But if he didn't try at all, they'd still be stuck here, just waiting to die a little while later.

Before he even knew what he was doing, he found himself lunging forward at the older, larger man. Stern must have not been expecting it, because he fell over backwards easily. Tom was on top of him, holding his right wrist down with one hand, preventing the knife from going anywhere. With his other hand, Tom held onto the man's other arm, but he couldn't stay like this forever.

As he released Stern's left arm and reached toward the knife in the right one, Hanson felt himself being slammed to the floor as Stern regained the upper-hand. The knife was lying on the floor now, and so was Tom. But he wasn't close enough to the knife to reach out and claim it.

He and Stern struggled, both of them throwing punches. Stern grabbed Tom's arms so harshly he was certain there would be massive bruises forming there in no time. He then picked Tom up off the floor a few inches and slammed him back down roughly.

As the impact caused his head to hit the floor harshly, Tom's vision swam. While he had the advantage, Stern flipped him over. He made quick work of pulling the remains of Tom's two shirts off his arms and re-cuffed his hands behind his back. He pulled Tom's arms back with a lot of force. Enough to make Tom cry out in pain.

"Oh, am I hurting you?" Stern growled and he twisted Tom's arm even more. He sounded more angry now than ever. He grabbed Tom by the hair and pushed his face against the floor. Tom had turned his head to the side so that only his right cheek was being pressed against the hard wood, but he still winced at the pain it caused.

The only sounds to be heard now were panting from both men and an occasional wince of pain from Tom.

It seemed like no time at all had passed when Stern grabbed Tom's arms again and pulled him up to his feet. He pushed Tom, face first, up against the wall and held him there by crushing his own larger body up against the officer's. With his hands pulled behind his back, Hanson had no chance of getting away now.

Now the principal positioned himself so that his mouth was right next to Tom's ear, "you pull any shit like that again, and I won't hesitate to beat the hell out of you, fuck you, and slit your fucking throat," he growled in a harsh whisper. He squeezed Tom's arms and shook him with each phrase he uttered. Hanson felt so crushed beneath the weight of the larger man. Even if he struggled with all his might, he knew he'd be unable to move an inch.

Tom, still breathing heavily, decided to stay silent. The words Stern was saying were terrifying, but they did seem to imply he was going to give Tom a second chance. He was not planning on killing him just yet, or he would have done so when he had the chance and when he was most angry at him - right now.

Stern continued yelling, his voice raising higher and higher with each word, "You act like I was trying to kill you or something, when I promised _OVER AND OVER AGAIN that I WASN'T GOING TO_!" He shook Tom again, causing pain in his bruised limbs, "I want your friend to see you again. That's the experiment. I want to make it look like I hurt you a lot more than I did, so I can see how he reacts."

Tom frowned, "what? Why?" he tried to turn and face the man, but Stern wouldn't allow it.

After pushing him against the wall for a moment longer, Stern spun him around on his own, pushing him back and reaching down toward the waist of Tom's jeans, "now, don't freak out," he sounded annoyed, as though Tom was the one being irrational, "I'm just unbuttoning your pants."

As much as Tom wanted to kick him, he remained still instead. He wasn't sure what this man was trying to do, but if he was going to make promises not to kill him or do anything too bad to him, he didn't want to mess with him and un-do those promises.

Stern unbuttoned the button on Tom's jeans and pulled the zipper down. Tom couldn't help but flinch slightly. Having the man so close to that area made him extremely uneasy, "what are you doing?" he heard himself say in a small voice.

"Like I told you before," Stern scowled at him, "it's all part of the experiment."

"I don't understand," Tom admitted.

Stern narrowed his eyes and looked at Tom as though he was contemplating something, "there are a lot of things I want to do to you," he started, sounding like he was thinking about a wonderful dream he had, "but I don't want to do all of them yet. I would, however, be interested to know what your cop partner would do if he_ thought_ I did those things. When I actually do them, he might already be dead... or maybe you'll be dead shortly after, and so he won't get a chance to see you again and make his comment..."

Tom looked at him with wide eyes. He still wasn't sure why Mr. Stern would be interested in Doug's reaction. He assumed it was just some sort of fascination the man had with hurting people emotionally. He wanted to hurt Doug emotionally by making him think his best friend had been hurt physically. Of course, Tom actually had been hurt physically, but not in the way Mr. Stern wanted Doug to think.

The two of them stood facing each other in silence. The principal put his hands on Tom's shoulders and stared at him for a moment before speaking, "I think you could use a couple more bruises."

Shaking his head, Tom tried to take a step back. He wasn't sure why he kept forgetting about the wall behind him. No matter how much he wanted to, he wasn't going to be able to back through it. He felt his heart pounding in his chest.

He had dealt with a lot of very stressful and scary cases during his time on the police force, but nothing like this. This wasn't just someone who wanted him dead, or even someone who wanted to hurt him. This man's motives were unclear, but he seemed content in torturing his victims over a period of time and even messing with them psychologically. If no one came to their rescue, he and Doug might be beaten, raped, and killed, and not at all quickly. He had been threatened with death many times before, but not like this.

Though expected, the punch Mr. Stern delivered to his stomach was still painful, and still made him lose his breath. He bent forward, unable to use his hands in defense, but not wanting to be hit in the stomach again. However, Stern quickly grabbed him by the upper arms and pulled him back into a standing position.

Next Stern hit him on the same cheek he had pressed against the floor earlier. That cheek was already throbbing and was even worse now. He turned his body toward the wall so that his face and stomach were no longer exposed, but that didn't stop the brutal assault.

He felt his arms being grabbed roughly as he was pushed down to the floor. Stern didn't simply push him and let him fall, however. Instead, he sort of lowered him down somewhat forcefully. For that, Tom was actually grateful, as having his hands behind his back, he would have had nothing to break his fall.

As he squirmed in an attempt to get away, to get on his feet or at least out of the corner he found himself in, Stern kicked him over and over again. He tried to curl himself into a ball so that most of the kicks were to his back, but some still hit his arms as well. It was still painful, but maybe not as bad as it would have been otherwise.

Hanson assumed the man would keep kicking him until he felt he had enough potential bruises, but he didn't seem to be planning on stopping any time soon. Tom didn't know how much more of this he could take.

"Stop!" he finally yelped. To his surprise, Stern did exactly as instructed. Even though he was trying hard not to show pain or fear, Tom couldn't help the soft moans of pain that escaped his lips between short ragged breaths. He wasn't sure if Mr. Stern was actually through with this vicious beating, so he remained curled up on the floor, breathing heavily, in short, pained breaths.

The next thing he knew, he felt hands on his arms. Stern dragged him to his feet. The movement caused Tom to wince in pain.

Stern then led him over to a chair in the back of the room and sat him down. Tom was in so much pain. He wished he had lost consciousness just so he wouldn't have to deal with this yet.

"Maybe I went too far," the principal bent down in front of him, looking at his eyes, "You okay, little guy? I don't want you dead yet..."

Tom swallowed and exhaled, looking up and making eye contact with the cruel man in front of him. He didn't feel that was a question worth answering. Was he okay? In what sense of the word? He felt awful, but he wasn't dead, if that's what Stern meant.

"Well, I didn't break anything important, did I?" Mr. Stern asked, looking him over. When Tom was silent still, Stern slapped him lightly on the cheek, "answer me."

Tom looked up at him. Concentrating on what the principal was saying wasn't on the top of his list of priorities, but the man looked at him expectantly, "what was the question?" he mumbled, slumping slightly in the chair.

"You okay?" Stern asked. He really did look concerned, but Tom knew it wasn't for the right reasons. He wasn't scared that Tom was hurt. He was scared that Tom might be so hurt that it would affect how much he'd be able to hurt him later.

The longer they sat there, the less pain Tom was in. He hoped it was because he wasn't hurt as badly as it had seemed and not that he was about to pass out or anything.

"Dammit!" Stern yelled at not receiving an answer yet, "answer me!"

"I'm grand," Tom forced a very fake-feeling smile. He was certain it looked even more fake than it felt. Fortunately, Stern was already scared he'd hurt the cop too much and didn't strike him again as punishment for his sarcasm.

Stern grabbed him and pulled him up off the chair, "I think you're ready to go see you're best buddy," he said, pulling Hanson along.

* * *

**Author Notes: _Thank you for all the reviews so far, people. :) You're great. I hope you liked this extra-long chapter. I may upload one more chapter before this happens, but in a couple days I'm going to be without internet access for about a week and a half. Don't be alarmed. I've got the entire story written already and plan to upload all of it eventually._  
**


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4:

As soon as they were back down in the locker room, Tom was immediately greeted by the worried stare of Penhall. Mr. Gale was nowhere to be seen.

With Stern's hands on his shoulders, holding him firmly in place, Tom let the man lead him back toward the pipe he had been cuffed to previously. But before he locked him there, Stern made sure Doug had a chance to fully take in Hanson's physical condition.

Hanson must have looked as bad as he felt, because Doug was quite obviously infuriated, "What did you do to him?" he yelled, looking up at Stern who gave no immediate answer. His eyes quickly darted back to Tom, "are you okay?" Penhall's eyes looked up and down Tom's body over and over again, as if he was trying to figure out what exactly happened. Tom could also hear the grinding of his partner's handcuffs as he tried with futility to free himself and come to Tom's aid.

Tom nodded, "fine," he managed, trying to sound as okay as he could. He was still in quite a bit of pain from the beating he had received, and still exhausted from his struggles to escape. Even with all the adrenaline running through him, he still felt terrible. He could only imagine how sore he'd feel in the morning... That is, if he lived until morning.

Stern led him back to the pipe where he had been chained before. He un-cuffed one of Tom's hands, wrapped the cuff around the pipe, and then cuffed the hand again. This time, Tom didn't even try to fight it. He felt too weak and knew he'd never be able to get both himself and Doug out of this while he was in this condition. If he tried to escape now, he'd only end up more hurt. At the moment, he was just glad no one was hitting or kicking him, and no one was touching him. If Stern wanted to lock him here and then leave him alone for a while, that was fine by Tom.

"Have you seen photos of Victor?" Stern looked over at Doug who stared angrily back, "you know, the boy I killed? The boy I _fucked_."

Doug looked sick. He didn't answer. Instead he looked back at Hanson, still seemingly trying to make some sort of judgement on his injuries.

"Tommy looks like him, don't you think?" Stern asked, squatting next to Hanson and then glancing back over to Doug, "I know you've seen photos of Victor. If you're investigating the case, you'd have to have seen him. You two probably got assigned to this case just because of what the other boys looked like. I can't believe your captain sent you in as bait..."

Tom tried to scoot as far away from him as his restraints would allow. Stern reached for Tom's hair and messed it up with his hand. Tom flinched back, but it did no good. He couldn't get away from the man. The principal kept his fingers in Hanson's hair, sort of petting his head and rubbing strands of it between his fingers.

"His hair's so soft and dark, just like Victor's," Stern continued, "And when his hair gets sweaty or wet, sometimes it hangs down in his eyes, just like Victor's used to. You know... there's something really attractive about a boy with messy, unkempt hair," He moved his hand down from Tom's hair and to his cheek. Though Tom tried to turn his head away from the man's touch, Stern would not allow him. He tilted Tom's chin upward so that the officer was forced to look at him, "his eyes look like Victor's too. Victor had this look in his eyes, whenever he was feeling scared, vulnerable, trapped, hurt... Just like how Tommy's eyes look now."

"Get off him," Doug growled. He didn't yell it like he was frantic, but rather sounded like he would likely snap and kill the man if he didn't comply. Unfortunately, he wasn't in a position where that would be possible. Tom frowned when he heard Doug's handcuffs grinding against the pipe again. He imagined his partner's wrists would be quite damaged by the end of this.

Stern moved his hand down lower, running his fingers down Tom's chest. Tom held his breath, "in fact, his entire body is quite similar to Victor's."

Tom tried to back up more, pulling on the cuffs and groaning in the pain it caused and in the frustration he felt. He knew what Stern was attempting. He was planting seeds in Doug's mind, trying to make him think he had raped Tom. Tom would just have to assure Doug that it didn't really happen. But the more he sat here, the more he felt it wouldn't really matter. Even if he convinced Doug that he hadn't been raped, they probably would both be raped by the end of this, and dead. What difference would it make?

"You get the hell off him," Doug's voice was calm, even though he wasn't, "right now."

Stern traced his finger down to the button on Tom's jeans and then back up his chest. All the while, Tom was squirming, trying to get himself out of the man's reach, "fair enough," Stern grinned, standing and taking a few steps back. Now he stood where he could easily see both men, but could reach neither.

"What did he do to you, Tom?" Doug looked right in Tom's eyes, and he looked terribly worried and even sad.

"It's not as bad as it looks," Tom assured him, "and it's not as bad as he's wanting you to think."

Now Doug looked confused. He glanced over at Stern for a moment, but then fixed his gaze back on Tom. He didn't have to ask for Tom to read in his eyes that he wanted to know more details.

"All he did was knock me around," Hanson informed his partner, "I can't imagine why, but he wanted you to think he did more than that. He's just messing with you."

"More... as in... what?" Doug's expression was serious.

"Sex," Stern cut in, smiling hugely, "he's quite ashamed, but I can't see why. For his first time with a man, I think he did a great job. He was even better than Victor."

Tom frowned. Why would the man want to play this game? He looked over at Doug who looked more upset now than ever, "he didn't really," Tom assured his partner, "I don't know why he wants you to think that, but he told me that was what he was doing, trying to make it look like that happened... But it didn't. That's why he cut off my shirt and unbuttoned my pants. He just wanted it to look that way."

Doug's face looked more sympathetic than Tom thought possible, "it's okay, Hanson," he sounded so sad. His voice was even shaking ever so slightly, "you don't have to talk about it if you don't want to. But I'm here if you need me."

Tom sighed and shook his head, "There's nothing to talk about," he urged.

"You be the judge," Stern said, looking at Doug, "if he wants to pretend it didn't happen, let him. But we smell like sex, don't we?" he inhaled deeply and smiled. He then nodded, "yeah. We do. Anyway, you boys have fun. I'll be around."

With that, he turned and left the room. But Tom had a strong feeling he was going to keep himself within ear shot. He wanted to see Doug's reaction to all this. He probably just wanted the two officers to be able to speak more freely without the feeling of being listened to.

"Doug, I swear that didn't happen. I'll tell you exactly what happened up there, and that isn't included," Tom persisted, "he took me up there and hit me and kicked me. He cut my shirts off, and unbuttoned my pants. He even told me he wanted you to think he'd raped me. I have no idea why he cares, but he said he wants to see how you'd react."

Doug looked like he was considering all of this. He looked Tom up and down, "you're bleeding and you've got bruises all over you, and red marks," Doug noted, frowning.

"Those will be bruises too, soon enough. He kicked me so much I thought I might pass out," Tom admitted. He didn't like complaining or showing any sort of weakness, but he needed to show Doug what actually happened so that his partner wouldn't think the worst. The then looked down at his own chest, at the small cut there, "he got me with the knife a bit when he was cutting my shirt... On accident, I think."

"Are you really badly hurt?" Doug asked. He looked Tom up and down again, but his eyes hovered over Tom's unbuttoned pants for a few more seconds than necessary. Tom could tell Doug didn't believe him, but could see that he didn't want to press the matter any more than he already had. He'd never seen his partner's facial expression look how it looked now. He looked so sad, but also angry angry shocked.

"I know you think I'm just traumatized and you think I'm in denial, but I'm really telling the truth about what happened," he promised his partner, "it all looks suspicious because he planned it that way."

"If he had raped you," Doug flinched at his own words, "would you tell me?"

Tom looked down at his feet. He probably wouldn't, "I don't know, Doug. I guess you'll find out when he actually does it. You can believe me or not," he felt himself getting angry, and he wasn't sure why. Perhaps it was just the stress of the situation mixed with his friend's lack of faith in his truthfulness, "it doesn't really matter, does it? He didn't do it yet, so I'm denying it, but he'll get us both in the end, and maybe we can sit together and discuss it before he stabs us to death."

Penhall frowned, "okay..." he gave in, "I'll take your word for it. But those bruises and welts look pretty bad. He didn't break anything did he?"

Tom shook his head, "I don't think so."

"We're going to get out of this, Hanson," Penhall smiled at him reassuringly. But by this point, Tom was feeling pretty hopeless. It was getting pretty late, and no one had come in to check on them. Fuller and everyone else probably thought they had just stayed at school late, or gone to a party, or just went home to sleep... No one was looking for them. No one was going to find them until they were stone cold corpses, bloodied and bruised.

He wanted to remain positive for Doug, but couldn't bring himself to agree with his words verbally. So he just shook his head in agreement, not at all actually believing it.

"Listen," Doug whispered, leaning forward so that he could be as quiet as he could and still be heard by Tom. He must have had the suspicion they were still being listened to as well, "I talked to Gale while you were gone. He didn't take part in the rape or murder of those other boys. He was there when it happened, but he didn't actually do it. It was all Stern. I had him this close," Doug tried to move his hands to gesture, but only achieved a clanging sound. He shrugged and continued, "I was close to convincing him to let us go. If we can get him down here alone, without Stern, we might be able to get out of this. We've just got to convince him he'll face little or no jail time."

"Easier said than done," Tom commented. He then sighed, "I'm sorry," he shook his head, closing his eyes and keeping his head down.

"What for?" Doug wondered.

"For being so negative..." Tom answered, "I just... This is looking so hopeless..."

"It's okay, Hanson," Penhall assured him, "you can feel hopeless. Leave the positivity up to me," he forced a small grin, "if you can't get us out of here, I will."

Tom shook his head, "you say that... but I'm not sure I see it happening."

"You'll see," Doug smirked again, "and when we get out, you're probably going to get a big dose of morphine. Nothing makes everything all better like morphine does."

Tom looked up at him and laughed. They both knew morphine was something they were often given after cases where they got beaten the hell out of. Tom welcomed a nice dose of morphine after all that violence Stern had inflicted. If they could just get out of this before either of them was raped or killed, everything would be alright. Doug was right - morphine really would make everything better...

"You know, Stern might need some too," Tom smiled, "I landed a few pretty good punches on him up there."

"Oh, did you?" Doug smiled, "how did you manage that?"

"He unlocked my cuffs so he could lock my hands behind me instead. I didn't even plan it really... When my hands were free for a moment, I just lunged at him. It was short lived..." he frowned, remembering how quickly Stern had wrestled him back down. It didn't help that Stern was bigger than he was, and Tom was weakened and already hurt. It hadn't been a fair fight.

"Well, at least he's not going to walk away from this unscathed. And if I get my hands on him, he won't be walking away at all," Doug told him.

"Is that so?" Stern was walking back into view, and this time Gale was along with him. He made his way towards Doug and stood over him, "you're a big tough man, aren't you?" he said mockingly, "well, there's a reason they put you two in undercover high school cases. Because you look like kids. Not because you look like tough cops."

"If we're not a threat, then unlock us and let us settle this in a fair fight," Doug suggested.

Stern laughed, "I'm not here to be fair," he smirked. He then turned around to face Tom who was glad he hadn't lost his patience with Doug. He had expected Penhall to get some sort of retaliation.

But Doug wasn't ready to let it go, "you scared?" he called back.

Tom could see Stern's face, since the man was facing him. Anger flashed in his eyes for a moment, but he quickly repressed that emotion and replaced it with amusement. He turned back around to face Penhall again.

"I have no doubt that Mr. Gale and I could take you guys on. In fact, I could probably beat both of you myself," Stern told him, "but why waste my breath?"

Penhall raised his eyebrows, "because you're scared," he shrugged.

Tom couldn't see Stern's face, but he could sense that the man was becoming angry at Doug's taunts. Tom debated whether or not he should advise Penhall to shut up before he got himself hurt. Why was he teasing this man who had complete control over him? Did he really think the principal would accept his proposal to fight him?

Mr. Gale cut in next, "you could fight him," he looked at Stern and gestured toward Doug, "and I'll take the little one," he laughed.

Stern let out a frustrated sigh, "nobody's fighting anyone. Are you a fucking idiot?" he yelled at Gale, "We're not running a fucking game here where we've all got to fight fair. We've got these guys chained up in a basement and I just beat the fuck out of this one. Do you think I'm here play fair with them?"

Tom and Doug looked across at each other. Tom shook his head very slightly, trying to tell Doug to shut up while he was ahead. Stern was obviously losing patience with all this. One more word, and Doug was probably going to get hurt.

But his partner just offered a crooked smirk, raising his eyebrow and shrugging, "I understand," he called out, bringing the attention of both men back down to himself, "I wouldn't want to fight me either."

Tom was right about Stern's fuse being short. It was no time at all between Doug's words and Stern's foot connecting roughly with his leg. He didn't even reiterate his whole 'not here to play fair,' motto. He just kicked Doug until Tom's worried voice interrupted him.

"Stop!" Hanson screamed, but Stern didn't listen. He bent down closer and punched Doug right in the ribs, "stop it!" Tom yelled again. He knew there was no point in it, but he tugged at the cuffs that bound him to the pipe, wincing as the metal bruised and cut his skin. He wished he could break free and help his partner, but there was no way that was going to happen, "please stop it!"

Stern either listened to Tom's pleas, or decided he had done enough damage. He stood up, still looking down at Doug whose facial expression showed he was in pain. Then the principal turned around and glanced down at Tom.

"Look at you," he said, sounding disgusted, "You're just covered in sweat, blood, dust, and god knows what else," his eyes looked Tom up and down.

Tom just stared up at him. He wanted to cover up his exposed chest, but had nothing to cover it with. Nor did he have his hands free. Even if he did have some sort of cover, he wouldn't be able to position it.

"I think he could use a shower," Stern looked over to Doug, "what do you think?"

"I think he's fine," Doug frowned, wincing from the pain Stern's punch had caused to his side.

"What do you think, Gale?" Stern turned toward the janitor.

"Oh, I think so," Gale laughed, "we got showers right down here. Real convenient. I can take him for a shower for you if you want."

Stern looked annoyed, "No."

Gale frowned, "why am I even here if you won't let me in on anything?" he growled.

"You can have at him when I'm done," Stern offered, "but don't kill him. I want to do that. Maybe I'll let you kill the other one. _Maybe._" he looked over at Doug, "probably not. These guys are just both too fun. It would be a shame for me to give either of them up to you... Maybe you need to find your own next time."

Gale looked quite angry, "Fuck you," he growled and stormed up the stairs.

Stern shrugged, "I swear that man is on the verge of being retarded," he laughed and looked at Tom as though he was sharing in his little joke, but Tom didn't laugh. He wasn't sure if Doug's plan of getting Gale to let them go was going to work. It seemed like the janitor wanted to kill them just as much as Stern did; he just wasn't _allowed_ to. But maybe they could appeal to him with the 'if you can't have us, no one can,' sort of logic.

"Here's the deal," Stern started, looking down at Tom, "I'm going to take you over to the showers and you're going to rinse yourself off. I'm not going to try anything, so you don't have to worry. I'll un-cuff you, and you can take your own pants off, or I can do it for you."

Tom remained still and silent. He could feel that his eyes were wide in disbelief. Was this man seriously suggesting that he willingly strip naked? What was he going to do if Tom refused? More importantly, what would he do if Tom complied?

"So what's it going to be?" Stern asked, "you gonna do it? Or am I?"

* * *

**_Author's Notes:__ I hope you're liking the story still. :) Thank you again for all who are reviewing. It's going to be a while before I update this story again, but please don't lose patience with me. I am going to be without internet access for a bit, but when I am able to do so, I'll upload more._**

**_If you never see another chapter of this story, assume I died, because that's the only way I'm not going to finish it. I've got the whole thing already written and am quite proud of it. The only way I won't put it up to share with the world will be if I'm dead.  
_**

**_So if in a month you've not seen any more updates, please hold a memorial service for me. You'll be some of the only strangers on the internet who are aware of my death.  
_**


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5:

Doug felt rage boiling inside him as all he could do was sit back and watch everything that was unfolding around him. Tom looked scared, but also looked like he was trying to hide his fear. Doug knew his partner didn't like to show weakness and could see he was trying his best to remain strong even though he was quite likely terrified. Penhall wasn't sure what Stern was planning, but he didn't like the sound of it.

There was no reason he'd need Tom to shower. Was he just trying to get him naked so he could finally rape him without as much of a struggle? Had he already raped him? Doug just wanted all of this to be over. If they were going to die, he just wanted it to happen already. No more of this physical and emotional torture. As much as he cared about and loved Tom, he almost wished Stern would just kill him now rather than hurting him first. What good would it do for Tom to live a few hours longer when those hours would be filled with pain and terror?

Penhall could feel his heart racing and could guess that Hanson's was as well. He looked into Tom's frightened eyes, knowing his partner was probably thinking something along the exact lines Doug was thinking - that it would be better to just die now than to suffer first.

"Gale! Get your ass back down here!" Stern yelled out suddenly, "I got a job for you."

Stern now had a switch blade he had taken from his pocket, "here's how this is going to play out, Tommy," Stern instructed, "we're going to unlock you. Gale's gonna stand next to you and make sure you don't try anything. I'll be over here with your best pal Doug. You'll undress, and Doug will be fine. If you don't, Doug gets his throat slit. How's that?"

Tom's eyes were wide and dark. Somehow they seemed darker when he was scared, "you don't have to listen to him, Hanson," Doug called out, "he won't kill me yet." Doug didn't know if that was really true, but he didn't want to watch his friend be subjected to this.

"What do you want?" Gale growled as stomped down the stairs and entered the locker room.

"Hey, buddy," Stern smiled, "don't be angry. I've got a fun job for you. You're gonna unlock Tommy there," he ordered, gesturing toward Hanson, "and you're gonna hold onto him while he undresses. If he tries anything, you just say the word, and Douglas dies. That sound fun?"

Gale's eyes looked like they were brightening. He must have thought the job sounded like a fun one, "I can do that," he smiled.

"Good," Stern smiled as well, "I thought you'd find fun in it."

Stern walked over to Doug and knelt down next to him. He pushed the button on his switch blade, causing the blade to shoot out. Doug looked at it, wondering if he was still going to be alive in five minutes. He didn't know if he'd be able to stay still and quiet while they were forcing his partner to undress right in front of him. What if they raped him right there? Doug would fight with them until they killed him if that happened. He was not going to just sit there and let them hurt his best friend. His struggles would most likely be worthless, but that wouldn't matter.

"Okay," Stern grinned, looking over at Tom, "have at it. And remember, Tommy," he added, "one wrong move, and your best friend's a goner." He pressed the blade up to Doug's neck for effect, cutting his skin just enough to show he was serious. Doug winced just barely at the stinging sensation.

"You don't have to do this Tom," Doug called over to his partner, "they are going to kill us both anyway, so there's no point in trying to cooperate." He was finally understanding Tom's previous sense of hopelessness. He wasn't sure if he could stand to watch them hurt his friend any more than they already had. But he also felt dread in his heart when he thought about his friend having to watch him die and then be left alone with these two disgusting men.

"Doug's got a point, Tommy," Stern laughed, "but know this: if you don't cooperate, that's fine. We'll kill Doug, and he won't have to suffer any more. He'll get out of a lot of pain if you decide to refuse cooperation. It might actually be kind of you to do that for him. But if it comes to that, you're going to be living a life of hell for the next and last few hours you'll ever see. We'll keep you here until morning, and you won't get a moment's rest. I'll fuck you, then Gale will, and then I'll go again. And Gale again, if he wants. We'll break your fingers. Then your arms..."

Tom stared at him as Gale unlocked his cuffs and dragged him to his feet. He was speechless, but looked absolutely dreadful. Doug wouldn't have been surprised if his partner threw up or passed out. He had never seen the man look so pale and scared. Doug wondered if the only thing keeping him from collapsing was Gale's grip on his arms.

"Cuff his hands in front of him," Stern ordered, "he doesn't need his hands free just to shrug out of some jeans and boxers."

Gale did as ordered and then ran his hands up Tom's arms, stopping when they reached his biceps. There, he held on tight. Doug could see Tom's body shivering and his bruised chest rising and falling a bit more rapidly than usual.

Everyone in the room was completely still and silent for a few moments.

"Go on, Tom," Stern smiled and looked over at the younger man, "don't be afraid. It's just a shower," he pressed the blade of the knife closer yet to Doug's skin.

Doug held his breath. He didn't think the man would kill him just yet, but he still didn't want to be cut any further than he already had been. He wished he could switch places with Tom, so that his partner wouldn't have to get hurt any more than he already had been. But he was certain Stern wouldn't allow it.

Doug looked right into his partner's eyes. Tom stared back. His eyes were wide and Doug could see that he was still trembling. It was a bit cold in the room, and Tom didn't have a shirt anymore. But he supposed the tremor was probably from fear more than from anything else.

Tom's eyes looked very uncertain, as though he wasn't sure what he was going to do. Doug wouldn't be upset with him if he didn't comply. He knew his friend had to be completely terrified. He wanted to yell out something, some sort of plea for his friend's well-being, but wasn't sure what he could say that would be worth saying. They said they'd hurt him even more if he didn't cooperate. He was doomed to be hurt one way or another.

Penhall stared at his partner, wanting so desperately to comfort him somehow. He glanced then over at Stern who still held the knife against his throat. The blade wasn't so cold now that it had warmed up against his skin, "you can do whatever you want to me," Doug offered, "just leave him out of it. I won't fight you or anything," He felt his heart racing for so many reasons. He was scared of the option he had just presented to the cruel principal. What if he accepted? What if he didn't? Doug would rather take on any and all violence the men had to offer if it meant his partner could avoid it. The thought horrified him, but the thought of Hanson going through it instead horrified him even more.

Stern shook his head, "you'll get your turn, Douglas," he smirked, "just be patient."

"Take me first then!" Doug pleaded, "save the best for last, you know?" He was hoping he could buy any small amount of time possible. Maybe Fuller or someone was on their way here right now. Just buying themselves five or ten minutes might be long enough. Maybe he'd end up being raped or beaten, or even killed, but at least then maybe Tom would be spared.

Doug looked back at Tom, whose eyes were even wider than before. He looked like he was going to argue with Doug, but he didn't have to. Stern was nowhere near accepting his offer, "I can save the best for last still, Douglas," he informed him, "we're just going for a shower. Besides, you can fuck someone more than once."

Stern looked back at Tom, "go on," he instructed, grabbing a handful of Doug's hair in his hand and pulling his head back a bit. He pressed the knife against the cut that was already there, "Better go fast. Dougy's time is limited."

Hanson made a small whimper-like sound. He breathed in as though he was about to do something dangerous and scary. He then kicked off his shoes and socks and then stood still again, his hands shaking. In fact, his entire body was still shaking. He closed his eyes and exhaled a long, shaky breath. With trembling fingers, he reached toward the waist of his jeans. There, he hesitated for a moment. He then slowly pulled the jeans down to his ankles and stepped out of them, leaving his boxers in place.

Now he looked back at Doug. His eyes still looked confused.

"Go on, Tommy. You're almost there, buddy," Mr. Stern laughed, "just get out of those boxers, we'll get you in and out of the shower in no time. I swear it's not as big of a deal as you think it is... I don't know why you're so embarrassed. You've got nothing to be ashamed of," he looked Tom up and down.

Most of the officer's body was exposed now. Doug knew being so exposed wasn't something Tom was at all comfortable with. Not in front of strangers, not in front of friends, and especially not in front of serial rapist murderers.

Doug winced as Stern pushed the blade against his skin. He could feel a small trickle of blood running down his neck. Tom was starting at him, again looking quite worried.

"Go on," Stern ordered.

Hanson frowned, "if I do this, you've got to promise not to hurt him," he squeaked.

"Your boxers are coming off whether you do it, or Gale does it, or I do it," Stern informed him, "but I can tell you this: if you cooperate and we don't have to struggle to get it done, your friend Douglas will be safe, for now."

Doug saw Tom's lip quiver slightly. He wanted to tell Tom not to listen to them, to tell him to run away and save himself, but the situation didn't seem to have any exit point. If Tom didn't comply, he'd end up more hurt than he would have otherwise. If he tried to run, he'd be caught and probably suffer very painful consequences.

Tom exhaled again, but kept his eyes open this time. He put his thumbs between the waist band on his shorts and his skin and just stood there, looking down at the floor.

Doug didn't know if he should look away. He knew Tom wouldn't want Doug to see him naked, but he also didn't want to abandon his friend. He wanted to make sure Gale or Stern didn't hurt him, but even if he watched, how could he prevent something like that? He decided he'd keep watch, but would only look at his partner above the waist.

Hanson finally built up enough courage and pulled the garment down, promptly shielding his genital area with his hands as he stepped out of the shorts. Doug continued looking at his partner's face, but Tom only stared down at the floor. His cheeks flushed as Gale whistled like you might hear a construction worker whistle at an attractive woman.

"Move your hands, kid," Gale laughed, reaching for Tom's arm and attempting to tug on it.

"Stop it!" Doug yelled.

Stern let go of Doug and walked over to where Gale and Tom were standing, "get off him, Gale." the principal ordered as he shoved the janitor to the side and grabbed onto Tom's arm, "you stay here with him," he gestured toward Doug, "and remember, Tommy," he added, whispering in Tom's ear as he led him toward the shower, "you try anything, and Doug gets killed. And not quickly. We'll stab him in the stomach so he dies slowly. Hear that, Gale?" he called back, "if Tommy here tries to run off or anything, stab Douglas right in the stomach."

"You got it, boss," Gale agreed, but didn't sound pleased.

Doug felt like his heart was sinking in his chest, but could still feel it thumping quite hard, "please don't hurt him," he pleaded. He hated pleading with criminals. In fact, he usually avoided it at all costs. But seeing Tom in such a situation made his heart ache. He was so frightened for his friend.

"He'll be fine, buddy," Stern assured him. Doug didn't see any reason to believe him, but he tried to anyway as he watched the older man drag Tom out of sight, toward the showers. Tom didn't struggle at all. His partner's loss of hope made Doug's heart sink even further.

The sound of multiple showers being turned on was what he heard next. He tried to listen to what was going on, since the showers weren't really all that far away, but the sound of falling water drowned out anything that was being said.

"Gale, please listen to me," Doug looked at the janitor who stood before him, "you remember what we talked about earlier, right?"

"Sure," Mr. Gale responded, "you want me to let you go, but I don't see why I should, really. You say I won't get in trouble since I didn't kill anyone last time. Looks like I won't be killing anyone this time either, so what difference would it make?"

"This time's different," Doug was perfectly willing to make up any lie he could to convince this man to let them go. If he could get Gale to unlock his handcuffs, he could go into the showers and save Tom and they'd both get out of there, "you know what you're partner is going to do if you let him. Last time maybe you didn't," Doug started, "but this time you do. If you let him hurt my partner, and let him kill us, you're going to get in trouble too. But it's not too late. Tom and I won't press charges against you if you help us out of here. We can say Stern forced you to be here and you were scared for your life at first. You won't face any jail time at all, most likely."

"And if I don't let you go? If I just sit here and let Wallace do whatever he wants, what then?" Gale asked, "will I go to jail then? Even when I still didn't do anything. Why should I get in trouble for what he does?"

"You will," Doug told him, "keeping people locked up, helping someone force them to do things... that makes you an accomplice. Right now, you're forcing me to sit here while your partner does God knows what to my friend... That makes you just about as guilty as he is. You could stop him, but you won't."

"So it's probably already too late. I held your partner in place and made him strip naked..." Gale raised his eyebrows and smiled, "and I beat up on you earlier..."

"I'm willing to forget all of that," Doug assured him, "and I'm sure Tom will be too. If you're the reason he gets out of this before getting raped and killed, he's going to be pretty thankful to you. Neither of us will press charges."

"You know I'm just going to do this to someone else someday. You fucking know that," Gale took an unexpected turn, "I'm sure you can see how much I want in on this. I'm not here just to help Wallace. I don't even fucking like the guy. Those boys... They were gorgeous. I wanted to do things to them - the things Wallace did. But he didn't let me. And Tom's the same. Not that you don't look okay too... It's just a sort of different type, you know? You look kinda too manly, I guess. He's more boyish... I don't know if you get it... There's a reason we're finding our boys at a high school and not at bars. I still can't believe he's old enough to be a cop..."

Doug stared at him in shock for a moment. He wasn't sure that all of what the man had said made sense. He was somewhat confused that Gale seemed worried about offending him when he mentioned that Doug wasn't really his type. That wasn't exactly something Doug was disappointed to hear. He was also surprised the man was so willing to admit that he felt certain he'd rape and kill somebody someday, even if it wasn't today.

"If you stick around with Mr. Stern - with Wallace," Doug tried a different approach, "you're never going to get a chance to do anything like that. Stern's going to do what he wants, and just use you when he needs you."

Gale looked as though he was contemplating this, "if I let you go, will you help me kill Wallace? Then I'll lock you back up and do what I want. Maybe I won't even kill you guys. And I'll even try to be gentle with your friend. It'll be like a compromise. You both get to live, but I get to have a little fun first."

Doug couldn't believe how stupid this man was, "yeah," he agreed. He'd agree to anything the man suggested if it meant Gale would unlock him. He could have asked him to kill Tom and then himself, and he'd have agreed to it. That didn't mean he was going to follow through, "that would be better than what Stern has planned for us."

"I don't know..." Gale hesitated.

"The longer you wait, the longer Stern's going to have to do whatever he wants to Tom," Doug said, wincing internally as he said it. He had meant for the comment to speed Gale along, but it actually made his own blood run cold. He hoped Tom was okay. He could hear muffled voices here and there from the direction of the showers, but really couldn't guess what was going on, "if you ever want to take charge of this situation, you're going to need to get rid of him."

Gale looked at him as though he was thinking about it. He shrugged, picked up Tom's clothing off the floor, and threw it away in a nearby trash bin, "I don't know..." he said again, "you've got a point..."

Doug held his breath and watched the janitor. If the man really was going to unlock him, Doug could probably get himself and Tom out of this situation pretty quick. He'd have to be careful and stay alert, but it was very possible they were going to survive this after all...

* * *

_**Author Notes: So, good news: I didn't die. :D The rest of the story should be up in a somewhat timely manner. Keep up with the reviews. :) I really like them.  
**_


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6:

Tom was led a short distance from where he and Doug had been locked up. It wasn't far, but he felt like it was. He was out of sight of his partner and now at the complete mercy of a man he knew was a rapist and murderer. Mr. Stern had promised all he was taking him here for was a shower, but he didn't trust the man at all. For all he knew, he wasn't ever going to see Doug again. In fact, thinking about it now, he wished he had said some sort of goodbye to his friend before he was dragged away from him.

Hanson could feel Stern's hands gripped tightly around his upper arms. He hated the feeling of the man's fingers on his skin, but he couldn't bring himself to wriggle free and try to run off. He felt so trapped.

"Now, you stay right here," Stern ordered, positioning Tom in a corner. Now Tom and Stern faced each other. Hanson could see Stern's eyes were looking up and down his body. He wanted to tell the man to stop looking at him, but he knew it would do no good. So he just kept his hands in place, shielding himself as best as he could.

Tom stood just as Stern had instructed. He wanted so much to run out of this place, or at least to fight the man and try to steal any weapons he might have. But he knew Doug's life was on the line. If he made one wrong move, his partner would be killed. Tom didn't want to get out of here without Doug. They were either both getting out, or neither was.

Being undressed also made his confidence go out the window. He felt entirely vulnerable. He wanted to just curl up in a corner and hide. Just sit there until Stern finally decided to kill him.

With a smile, Stern finally turned around and walked along the wall of shower heads, turning each one on. Avoiding the streams of water, he then walked back over to where Tom was standing. Tom stared at him right in the eyes, but Stern's eyes didn't meet his. Instead, they roamed over Tom's body again, making the officer increasingly uncomfortable. He kept his hands down below his waist, covering as much of himself as possible, but it felt like not nearly enough. Even having his chest bare drew in way too much unwanted attention from the school's principal.

As Stern continued to stare at him like some sort of predatory animal, Hanson found himself backing away from the man without even telling his legs to move.

"Alright then," Stern looked at Tom's face. Tom wanted to look away, but forced himself not to, "have at it," the principal gestured toward the showers and took a step back.

Tom stared at him for a moment and then walked over to the nearest shower. He didn't know why the man had turned them all on. The water was somewhat cold, but Tom didn't adjust it. Instead, he just stood partially under the water, being sure to face Stern at all times. He wanted to be ready if the man decided to try anything.

"Sorry I don't have any shampoo or soap for you, Tommy," Stern laughed, "but even just water will be good for you. I made it cool so maybe it would feel good against all those bruises and scrapes," he paused, narrowing his eyes as they roamed over Tom's body yet again, "You know, if you would have just complied up there before, you wouldn't be so hurt now. You're doing a good job cooperating now though. Keep this up and you'll probably not experience too much more pain."

Tom just stared at him. He had nothing to say to the man. He wondered what Doug was doing, if he was okay. Was Gale hurting him? He didn't hear any cries of pain, but Doug was pretty strong. He wouldn't yell out at anything small. He was even tougher than Tom was, and Tom felt he himself was pretty tough. Gale seemed to be much more of a follower than Stern. Hopefully he was too scared to do anything to Doug without Stern there to okay it.

He felt his eyes widen as Stern started walking toward him. With his hands still covering himself, he backed up so that he was no longer under the fall of water. His back was now against the wall, which was a rough concrete texture. Tom looked to the left and then to the right. He was sort of in a corner. The fact that Stern was no longer advancing on him didn't really help put him at ease.

"Well, go on," Stern instructed, "get back under the water. Your hair isn't even wet."

Hanson stayed put and stared at the man. He was too close. Tom was not going to move any closer to him without some sort of incentive. It seemed too much like a trap. Why had he stepped forward?

"What did I _just_ tell you?" Stern sounded agitated. He took a step closer and grabbed Tom. His fingers squeezed around Tom's upper arm as he pulled him forward and back under the water, "if you cooperate, you won't get hurt. You just do what I say, and this won't be so bad. Why the fuck do you keep testing me?" He took a step back and continued grumbling as he looked down at his own shirt which he had accidentally gotten under the stream of water, "and now you've gotten my shirt wet."

When Stern started taking his own shirt off, Tom's paranoia increased. Just himself being undressed was bad enough. The fact that the principal was beginning to disrobe was quite unsettling.

He was completely soaked now, and shivering from what was likely the cold water, but possibly terror. Some water was running into Tom's eyes, making it hard for him to see. Since his hands were busy shielding his dignity, he couldn't exactly wipe the water away, so he just blinked, trying to get rid of the water that way. He needed to be able to see what was going on around him. The next thing he noticed, Stern was coming closer to him. The man's facial expression looked hungry.

"Stay back," Tom heard himself say as Stern backed him into the same corner he had just been backed into a few moments before, "we're done now. I took the shower. My hair's all wet and everything. There's no soap, so this is the best we can do. You said we were just going for a shower. Well, we did, and we're done."

"There's still blood on your chest," Stern reached out and touched the cut he had made not so long ago, "and on your cheek," he reached for that was well, but Tom flinched back.

"You're just going to kill me anyway. What difference does it make?" Tom wished he could just disappear. His breathing was rapidly increasing in speed and he felt like he could pass out at any moment. It was scary enough trying to reason with this man without having to do so while completely exposed like this, "just kill me right now and let's be done with it."

"I couldn't do that," Stern cooed, "We've not had nearly enough fun yet. Now come back under the water and I'll help you wash that blood off," he suggested, pulling on Tom's arm again.

But Tom pulled away, "no," he refused, feeling his heart racing. He knew Stern wouldn't like his refusal to cooperate, but he didn't know what else to do.

"Come on," Stern sounded angry now, "that wasn't a question. It was an order," he grabbed Tom and pulled him roughly under the flowing water. By this point, both of the men were quite soaked, but Stern had the benefit of wearing pants.

Tom struggled, but it wasn't easy while he was also trying to keep his hands over his genitals. Stern had his hand around Tom's neck now, squeezing lightly. It wasn't enough to restrict his breathing, but it was enough to scare him. And he couldn't bring himself to raise his hands up in defense, so he just stood there while Stern rubbed his thumb over the cut on his cheek, cleaning off the dried blood there.

Hanson breathed in and out in a manner that was quite shaky. He stared at Stern's eyes, trying to judge the man and figure out what he was thinking. He looked to be enjoying this way too much. He was even licking his lips as he rubbed his fingers over Tom's cheek and spoke softly to his captive prey, "I'd say it's a shame I had to hurt your pretty face, but you really look handsome all the same," he smiled.

Tom just stared at him with wide eyes. Stern's other hand was still around Tom's throat. He wondered if it was just a threat or if Stern was considering the possibility of strangling him to death. Tom wondered if he'd even fight him if that's what he decided to do next. At least if he was killed now, he wouldn't have to suffer through any more degradation or pain.

When the man moved his hand down and started rubbing the blood off his chest, Tom could feel his own heart racing even more than ever. Stern was doing this much too gently. This wasn't just a job he was trying to get done - cleaning blood. It was something else. He was treating Tom like he'd treat a lover, rubbing his skin in a gentle way and taking much too long to do it. And Tom knew he wasn't just a gentle person. He was far from it. It was easy for Tom to see that Stern was up to no good.

"My god, kid," Stern laughed as he rested his hand on Tom's chest, "you gonna have a heart attack?" He must have felt how fast Tom's heart was pounding.

Tom pulled away, but it only caused Stern's grip on his throat to tighten, "get off me!" Tom choked out, hearing panic beginning to bubble up in his own voice. He was no idiot. He knew Stern wasn't just going to take him back to where Doug was locked up. He was quite likely about to live the last agonizing minutes of his life right here. Stern was going to rape him and kill him just like he'd done to the other two boys.

"Just relax," Mr. Stern said in a voice that some may have described as soothing. But nothing he could say in any tone would be soothing to Tom. He kept his hand planted against Tom's chest, "you're excited aren't you?" Stern laughed as he felt Hanson's rapid heart beat. Tom wished he could will his heart to slow down.

Mr. Stern pushed Hanson back against the wall. He kept one hand around the officer's neck and the other over his heart. Tom kept his own hands down. He desperately wanted to shove Stern away, but just couldn't bring himself to move his hands. His hand-shield was the only thing keeping him from completely losing it. As long as he had his hands covering himself, he'd feel at least a little protected.

The two men stood in a silence that was rather uncomfortable for Tom, but Stern didn't seem to mind it. Tom shivered as Stern put the hand that wasn't around Tom's neck on his shoulder and then ran his fingers slowly down to Tom's hand. Hanson tried to step away, but that only resulted in the grip around his neck tightening. Stern kept his hand over Tom's, rubbing his fingers lightly over Tom's as they both just stood there for what felt like ages. Tom closed his eyes for a moment, trying to distance himself from the situation. He quickly opened them again. He didn't want to be caught off guard. He needed his wits about him if he was going to get out of this.

He stared at Stern again, and this time the principal looked right back into his eyes, "god damn, kid," Stern laughed, "your pupils are dilated so much... If you weren't actually a fucking cop, I'd assume you were high on something," he ran his hand back up Tom's arm and then placed it on his waist, "you probably don't get touched here enough," he commented, "do you have a girlfriend?"

Tom frowned. He refused to answer that question. He flinched away from Stern's hand, but Stern just moved his hand along with Tom's body. He then proceeded to slowly move it downward along Tom's side, finally stopping when his fingers rested on Tom's upper-thigh. He then moved his face very close to Tom's. So close in fact, that Tom thought he might try to kiss him. He turned his face to the side and just stood there. He could feel the principal's warm breath on his face.

Not actually looking at the man, Tom finally mustered up enough courage to speak, "Could we go back now?" he asked, his voice so much smaller than he would have preferred. His words were completely ignored. Stern was still standing right in front of him, not moving or speaking, but just breathing his hot breath on Tom's cheek. So Tom tried again, "Mr. Stern," he winced as he said the man's name and at how frightened his voice sounded, "could we please go back?"

Stern didn't respond. Instead, he kept a hold on Tom's neck and then grabbed one of his arms with his other hand. Tom then felt himself being spun around and pushed hard against the roughly textured wall. He felt the concrete texture digging into his skin as he tried to push himself back away from it, but Stern would not allow it. The way his hands were positioned, Tom couldn't really raise them now that he actually wanted to. His arms were crushed against the wall, the concrete scraping them as he tried to pull them out from under himself.

"Relax, kid," Stern whispered in his ear, "you've never done this before. Just relax and you might like it."

Tom heard a whimper escape his own lips as he continued to struggle to free his arms. Stern pressed one hand against Tom's back. He didn't know where his other hand had gone until he heard the sound of a zipper being unzipped.

At that, Hanson's panic rose even higher. He struggled even harder, finally getting his arms up so that he could press his hands against the wall. For a moment, he had pushed himself back and was beginning to spin around, but Stern corrected him quite quickly, pushing his own body against Tom to hold him in place. The weight of Mr. Stern's large body and the fact that his strong arms were holding Tom down made all of his struggles futile.

He could feel the hardness of Mr. Stern's erection pressing against his back. It made him feel incredibly sick, "please don't," he cried out, knowing that escape was not likely. His only chance now was to convince the man to stop, and that wasn't likely to happen either, "please," he gasped again as he continued to squirm between the wall and the huge man.

"Shhhhh," Stern rubbed his back lightly, "just keep calm. You'll probably like this if you let yourself. Did anyone ever tell you how soft your skin is?"

Tom wasn't someone who cried very often, and when he did, he always had a damn good reason. He could feel tears welling up in his eyes now though, and felt his breath was so frantic he wasn't sure if he was having a panic attack or was about to die just from stress and terror, "Please don't," he heard himself beg again, "don't..."

He struggled more, but the result was barely at all different from when he just stood still. Nevertheless, he pushed against the wall with all his might. He was going to keep fighting this until he passed out from exhaustion if that was what it would take. Even if he failed, he wasn't going to be able to say he didn't at least try his hardest to get away.

Stern laughed lightly, "you know, the more you fight, the more you're going to hate this," he informed his victim, "just relax, hold still, and keep calm. There are plenty of people out in the world who do this willingly. It's got to feel good, or they wouldn't do it. So just calm down. If you cooperate, we can try this in a position more comfortable for you."

Tom's breathing was out of control. In fact, he could barely find room to speak between his breaths. That didn't keep him from pleading though, "Please," he begged, "you-" he breathed another shaky breath, "wouldn't want-" he could barely get the words out of his throat as his uncontrollable breathing took over his body, "someone to do this-" he breathed again, "to you," he finally managed, "please let me go!"

"This might hurt a little," Stern warned him, completely ignoring his pleas, "but you need to take it like a man." Stern was bent down a little so that he could be more level with his victim, "Too bad you're so wild. It'll probably hurt a lot more since you're standing and thrashing around so much. But somehow I don't think you'd hold still enough for us to try it any other way."

Tom tried to turn himself around, but Stern was kicking his legs away from each other and holding them there with his own larger legs, "Stop," Tom pleaded, "stop... stop... Please don't do this..." He wasn't even thinking about what he was saying anymore. His mouth was just saying whatever it wanted to. His eyes were also leaking whatever they wanted to, regardless of what Tom said. He was completely without control over anything.

"Shhhh," Stern whispered again, "you're okay... I'll try to go easy on you the first time."

Tom felt the man's erection this time in a much more horrifying place. He could feel the man's disgusting skin right on top of his own skin, much, _much_ too close for any sort of comfort. He then felt Stern's hand run down his back and rest on his backside, "wait!" Tom screamed, "wait, wait... wait..." he didn't know what he wanted the man to wait _for_, but he just wanted this to stop. He wasn't ready for what was about to go down. He knew he never would be, but putting it off until later sounded a hell of a lot better than letting it happen now.

"I don't know what you're so scared of," Stern laughed, "I'll even lube us up," he offered, "all I have for it is spit, buy you'll be grateful for that when the time comes."

Tom continued struggling uselessly as he heard Stern spitting in his own hand. He shuddered to even think about what the man was doing behind him, most definitely rubbing his own saliva all over himself. He then heard the man spitting into his hand again. Tom squirmed and squeezed his eyes shut as he felt the man's fingers rubbing the saliva this time on Tom instead of on himself. Stern let his fingers linger there for a moment, "please don't do this," Tome pleaded again. He couldn't believe this was happening to him.

As much as he squirmed and pleaded, it seemed there was no getting out of this. He felt Stern's finger just barely sliding into him, but it was enough to elicit a choked sob from the officer.

"Shhhh," Stern hushed him, patting the back of his head, as he withdrew his hand, "that couldn't have hurt... It wasn't even in there but less than an inch."

All through this, Tom continued to struggle. His struggles were worthless from the beginning, and he was even more exhausted now. He heard Stern spitting again and wished he could just die right now. He actually found himself hoping Stern would grant him the mercy of killing him after all this. He didn't think he could deal with it all. He wasn't going to escape this. If Stern raped him (which it seemed like he was going to) Tom didn't want to have to live with it.

He felt Stern's fingers on him again. Tom tried to pull away, but there was nowhere to go. He couldn't seep through the wall or through the principal. He was completely trapped, "I'm trying to ease you into this Tommy," Stern explained, pushing his finger into Tom again, "but you're not letting me. Just relax. You think my little finger's bad; just wait... The more you resist, the more it's going to hurt."

Stern's finger was still barely in him. It was only in a little further than the last time, and it didn't really hurt, but it wasn't exactly something Tom welcomed, "please just let us go," he pleaded in a shaking voice as he tried to lean as far away from Stern as possible. All of Tom's muscles ached. His arms and legs were even shaking. He could barely even think anymore. He never thought the last thing he'd do in his life would be something like this.

"Sorry, kid," Stern sighed, "but you're just going to have to take it. Be scared or not," he paused, positioning himself very close to his victim, replacing his fingers with his penis. He seemed to be enjoying taking this slowly. Tom would have ordinarily thought that was sick, but now he welcomed it. The longer the man wanted to take before doing the actual deed, the better. Maybe he'd at least pass out from complete terror and could skip over it. But the way the man had himself positioned now made it seem like the wait was probably about over.

Tom heard a sob escape his throat. By this point he was sobbing so hard he wasn't sure if he could say anything even if his mouth wanted him to...

* * *

**_Author's Note: Ugg... I'm really not sure about this chapter... Is it too much? I've never written anything like this before... I wrote the word "erection," guys... "erection..." Oh god... and "penis..." I feel like an ass. X_X Tom Hanson will never forgive me. I love him so much... so why do I do this to him?_**

**_I hope someone out there still loves me after this...  
_**


	7. Chapter 7

_**This be my longest chapter yet. Enjoy:**_

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Chapter 7:

The minute Gale unlocked Doug's handcuffs, the police officer punched him in the face as hard as he could. He was in complete disbelief that he was actually able to convince the man to let him go, but he wasted no time standing in shock. His fist was slamming into the man's jaw before he could even think about what he was doing. When the janitor fell backward and then started staggering forward again, Doug punched him again so that he fell back, hit his head on the wall, and sunk to the floor.

He wasn't sure if the man was just passed out or if he was actually dead. He doubted the impact could have killed him, but he didn't stay to check. Although he couldn't hear much of what was going on in the showers, he had a terrible suspicion of what it might be.

For the past few minutes, he could hear muffled voices. He couldn't make anything specific out, but one of the voices sounded frantic. It was most definitely Hanson's. So as quickly as he could, Doug ran back to where Stern had led his partner not so long ago.

Upon entering the shower area, Doug's blood ran cold. He could see that Mr. Stern was up against the wall and his hands were not visible. Crushed between the man and the wall was a smaller man, Tom, who looked like the only thing keeping him from crumpling to the floor was the other man's body and the wall holding him up.

Doug rushed over as fast as he could, grabbing the principal off his partner and throwing him against the wall. Stern was quick to fight back, but Doug was so angry and filled with so much adrenaline that beating him back was no difficult task. Doug swore and swung punch after punch. He didn't even think about what he was saying or doing. Stern threw punches back, and they indeed hurt, but Doug hardly felt them. He knew he would later, but at the moment, pain was the least of his concerns.

Penhall was entirely surprised how easy it was for him to win this fight. Before, he had felt exhausted and hurt, like even if he escaped with Tom, he and his partner might not have been able to make it out of the building before their captors killed them or forced them back down to the locker room. But now that it really mattered, he seemed to be more than capable of defending his friend. It seemed he was going to succeed in single-handedly taking down both of their captors.

Eventually Mr. Stern was down on the floor, and Doug was kicking him. He didn't even know if the man was conscious anymore, but he kicked him still. When he was finally satisfied that Stern probably wasn't going to be getting back up any time soon, he stopped.

He turned around and faced Tom who was simply standing with his back against the wall. He had turned around so that he was facing his partner, but didn't seem entirely focused on what was going on around him. His skin was dotted with droplets of water and he was shivering. His hands were no longer covering himself. Instead they just hung limply in front of him, still cuffed together, but making no effort to prevent Doug from seeing what his clothing would normally cover. He didn't seem to really care about covering himself up anymore. Tom's eyes looked lost, unfocused and almost un-seeing as he stared vacantly at Stern who laid motionlessly on the ground.

"You okay," Doug rushed up next to him, grabbing his shoulders gently and looking into his eyes, trying to judge whether or not he was alright. Hanson and Stern had only been left alone for maybe ten minutes, fifteen at the most, but Penhall knew that was long enough for any number of terrible things to have been done to his partner. The fact that Tom was completely nude and Stern was exposed as well only furthered Doug's suspicion that something terrible could have happened to Hanson, especially when he also considered the position he had found the two men in.

Tom shrunk away for a moment, but then looked at Doug and seemed to finally focus on his partner, "how..." he started, looking confused. Then he shook his head and looked down at himself, "where are my clothes?"

Penhall looked down at his partner. He seemed to have much less emotion than he should have, "Gale threw 'em away," Doug frowned. Then he unbuttoned his own jeans. He was wearing boxers underneath, so loaning the pants to his friend would be no big deal. Before he took them off though, he remembered the floor was all wet.

He didn't bother turning the showers off. Ordinarily he would have not wanted to waste water, but he didn't really care about that at the moment, "come on," he put his hands on Hanson's shoulders and led him out of the showers. While Hanson was facing away from him, Doug took the opportunity to look down at his partner's backside, trying to see if he had any obvious injuries. He felt guilty for looking at his partner there, but when he saw no blood or any obvious signs of rape, it did put his mind a bit at ease. Of course, the lack of obvious injuries didn't mean nothing had happened.

When they were out of the showers, Doug turned his friend around so that he was facing him. He then pulled off his own jeans and handed them to Tom, "you can wear mine until we get you home."

Tom took the jeans from his partner. He stepped into them, pulled them up, and buttoned them, but they were still too big. If Tom hadn't held onto them at the waist, they may have fallen down.

"You okay?" Doug asked again, taking Tom's chin in his hand and raising his face so he could look into his eyes.

Tom just looked confused for a moment, but then nodded slowly, "yeah," he said in a quiet voice. He then just stared at Doug. He looked so uncertain, like he was staring at something he could simply not understand, "am I dead or somethin?" he asked still staring with confusion up into Doug's eyes, "are you really here?" he reached out and touched Penhall's chest.

"I'm really here, Tom," Doug promised, putting his own hand over Tom's, "you're not dead. You're okay. Did he hurt you?"

Tom shrugged. He opened his mouth to speak but then closed it again and looked at Doug like he didn't really understand the question. After a moment, he spoke up, "I don't know... I don't think so..." he sounded lost. Did he even really comprehend what was going on? Did he think he was dreaming? Was he in some sort of shock? Maybe he was more hurt than he realized or was willing to admit.

"You're okay to walk?" Doug asked, very fearful of the possible internal injuries his partner may have sustained.

Hanson nodded, "yeah," he responded, his voice sounding distant and uncertain still.

"Let's get you out of here," Doug suggested, grabbing Tom's shoulders again. He led his partner through the locker room, past Gale's unconscious form, and up the stairs. All the while, Tom didn't comment on anything. Once they were past Gale's still body, Doug pulled Tom in front of him so that if either of their captors woke up, it would be Doug they'd sneak up on first and not Tom. He put his hands on Tom's shoulders and led him forward that way.

As they walked, Tom kept his hands tightly clenched around the waist band of the jeans Doug had lent him, but he wasn't really doing a great job of keeping them pulled up. He held them up to just below his belly button in the front, but the back of the jeans were dipping, exposing a little more than Doug assumed Tom would want anyone to see. His lack of attention to himself and his surroundings was really unsettling. Doug reached out and pulled the pants up further himself. Tom didn't even flinch.

Doug led them to the school's main office and directly to the phone, on which he immediately phoned Fuller.

"Captain Fuller," he heard his boss's voice on the other end of the phone. He didn't sound worried at all. In fact, he sounded bored. He must have not held any suspicion at all that something was wrong. He was probably fully prepared to yell at Penhall and Hanson tomorrow for not showing up at the chapel. He had no idea...

"Yeah; this is Penhall," Doug responded, trying to keep his vice calm, but also trying to be as quick and concise as possible, "we need officers here at the school right away. As soon as you can get 'em here. And send a couple ambulances."

Doug heard Fuller calling out to some other officers, telling them instructions so that he himself could stay on the line, "you hurt, Penhall?" he asked, his bored tone immediately switching to concerned and serious, "what's going on? Is Hanson okay?"

"We're both alive. I'm not too badly hurt. Don't know about Hanson," he answered, "I mean, he's walking around and everything. You don't have to fear for his life, but he might have some broken bones and maybe... some other things..." Doug closed his eyes and winced as he thought about what unseen injuries his partner might have.

"I'm okay," Hanson turned and said to Doug, "is that Fuller? Tell him I'm okay," Tom seemed to be bringing himself back down to earth, but still seemed a little out of it.

"He says he's okay, but I think he's in shock," Penhall informed his captain, "We don't have any injuries that are emergencies, but you better send at least three ambulances."

"Three? What's going on, Penhall," Fuller said in his usual very serious tone.

"We found the murderers. They're knocked out down in the locker room. They'll both need ambulances, I'm guessing. If you care to let them. And I think you'd better send one for Tom just to be safe."

Tom pushed Doug and grabbed the phone away from him, "I'm fine," he stammered into the phone, "just send the two for the other guys."

Doug couldn't hear what Fuller was saying, but he could tell the man was probably arguing with his partner, because Tom's level of agitation was obviously growing. He could see in his partner's face that he was upset with whatever their captain was telling him.

"You go ahead and send it, sir, but I'm not getting in it. I'll give you my report on the case; then I'm going home," Tom's voice showed his impatience, "you can't force me to go to the hospital."

Doug reached for the phone and managed to pry it out of Tom's fingers. He put it back up to his ear in time to hear the end of whatever Fuller had been saying to Hanson. He sounded angry, like a father might sound when trying to explain something to a child who just wouldn't listen to his reasoning, "because I'm your captain and it's my responsibility to make sure you stay safe while you're on the job. If I say you're going to the hospital-"

"Sir," Doug cut in, "could you just tell them to hurry. We can work out the details later."

He heard Fuller sigh on the other end of the line, "I'm going to get someone over here to stay on the line with you so I can come over there," he offered.

"No need, sir," Penhall declined as he saw Hanson making his way toward the door, "I think Hanson wants to wait outside. I'm not letting him go off on his own. Just get over here as fast as you can," he hung up the phone and ran after his partner. If Fuller was angry with him for hanging up, he'd just have to get over it.

They sat down on a bench just outside the front door of the school, both of them silent for a moment. Doug was afraid to ask Tom what he wanted to ask, but he knew he needed to, so he finally just did it.

Looking over at Tom, Penhall hoped he could finally get some truthful answers out of him. He knew there were certain possibilities Tom would probably not want to talk about. But he also knew that if those things happened, Tom might need medical care. He also knew that those weren't the types of things someone should just repress. Eventually, he'd have to talk about it, "What exactly happened down there? How badly did he hurt you, Tom?" Doug asked, speaking as gently as he could.

Tom frowned and looked back over at him, "it wasn't as bad as how much he hurt me when we were upstairs," he answered, "but it was still so much worse."

Doug felt his heart skip a beat, "what do you mean?" he asked. He still wasn't sure what had happened to his partner when Stern had taken him upstairs alone.

Penhall stared at Tom under the light of a nearby lamp post. He hadn't looked at his partner very closely in all this time. Hanson had tear streaks down his cheeks. His arms, chest, and back were covered in bruises and scrapes, and his hair was a wet mess, some of it hanging in his eyes. His expression looked pained and confused as he looked up at his partner.

"Upstairs, he hit me and kicked me. I was in so much pain I thought I might pass out, but I didn't," Tom explained, "he was playing some sort of game where he wanted you to think he'd... you know... so he was taking off my shirts, and unbuttoning my pants, so I was really scared. I didn't know what he was going to do. He'd say he wasn't going to do anything, but why should I have believed him? He had a knife... At one point I thought he might actually kill me right there. I even fought with him and tried to escape, but then he just got mad and hit and kicked me more."

Doug nodded. Tom had already told him most of this, but it still made his heart ache to hear it again. He didn't really know what to say. Fortunately, Tom kept explaining on his own.

"I think he was beating me up just for the sake of creating bruises. It wasn't even about him being angry with me or just wanting to hurt me. He wanted to hurt _you_, emotionally anyway. He just wanted me to look as bad as possible so you'd feel worried about me. I was in so much pain when he was done. I don't know if I've ever been in so much pain. At the time I just wanted it to stop, but then later I would have gladly accepted that in exchange for what was going on. Down in the showers..." he started. He closed his eyes and exhaled loudly, "well, you could see what he was doing when you got down there... He was all over me..."

Penhall frowned. He wanted to know what happened, but at the same time, he didn't.

"I pleaded and begged..." Tom refused to look at his partner as he spoke, "I never plead... I didn't know what else to do... But no matter what I said, he wouldn't listen. And no matter how hard I fought, I couldn't get away from him. I could feel him right up against me... His hands all over, in places I'd never let anyone touch me... I tried to get away but he had me pinned so tightly I could barely move. I can still feel his hands and his disgusting body pressed up against mine... his fingers..." he shuddered, "It was sickening... If you hadn't come in when you did... he would have..." Tom breathed in and out very slowly, "if you hadn't interrupted him... he would have raped me," he said in a very small voice, "You came in right at the last minute. I would have died if you hadn't shown up."

Doug felt a wave of relief wash over him, "he didn't then?" he asked, "I thought for sure..."

Tom shook his head, "no. He didn't quite get to it. But it was still so much worse than all of the physical pain he caused earlier. He didn't really hurt me in the showers. It wasn't really painful... Just uncomfortable and embarrassing. Humiliating. Not really painful like before, but it was still so much worse. I'd have rather had him kick and punch me until I passed out. It was more humiliating than anything I've ever experienced... He had his hands all over me... And his fingers," Tom closed his eyes, "I couldn't even beg anymore by the end... I could barely breathe... and right before you showed up, I could feel his..." he let out a small noise that sounded somewhat like a whimper.

"You're okay," Penhall wrapped his arm around his partner. He wasn't really sure what else to say. Even though the man hadn't actually raped him, that didn't diminish the trauma from the experience. And Doug certainly hoped Tom was telling the truth. There was nothing he could do to change whatever had happened to his partner down in the locker room, but he at least hoped it was only as bad as Tom claimed.

When Penhall came into the room, the school's principal had Tom crushed up against the wall, with his legs spread. And when Penhall pulled the man off his partner, he could see that Stern had his own pants unzipped and his own genitalia was exposed. Even if he hadn't actually committed rape, technically, what he had done was still sexual assault and was obviously still traumatizing to his victim. Tom was forced to strip naked and have that man's hands all over his body and due to the principal's close proximity to Hanson's completely naked body, Doug knew that even if he hadn't actually penetrated his partner, the man's penis had to have been right up against his skin. Doug would have been surprised if his partner wasn't disturbed by the evening's events.

Tom's hands were still cuffed in front of him, so he couldn't really hug Penhall back, but he did lean in closer. Doug wrapped both of his arms around his partner and hugged him tight. He could feel that Hanson was shivering. It wasn't really all that cold outside, but his partner was naked from the waist up, and still wet from the shower he had been forced into. Being soaking wet must have made him more cold than Doug was. That, and he was still in shock from nearly being raped. Penhall pulled Hanson into a complete embrace and rested his chin on top of Hanson's damp hair and they sat like that in silence for a moment.

Doug frowned as he felt his partner's body shaking in his arms. He wished he could have gotten to him sooner. Even though Tom said he had gotten there 'just in time,' he knew saving him even sooner would have been better. Every moment he had to spend with that vile man was a moment too many. The two men were in the shower together for what was likely at least ten minutes. Surely they didn't just stand, staring at each other for most of that time. His partner most likely had to endure a lot of unwanted touching and fondling.

Penhall didn't even want to consider this possibility, but he knew it wasn't irrational to think maybe Hanson wasn't telling the whole truth. Doug may never know what really happened. All he knew was that his partner was at the mercy of the rapist murderer for long enough for any number of horrid things to have been done to him.

He squeezed his arms around his partner even tighter. For a moment he contemplated taking off his own shirt and wrapping it around his partner's shivering form, but before he could do it, his attention taken back by Tom's voice.

"How did you get out of the hand cuffs?" Tom asked him.

"I convinced Gale to let me go. He wanted me to help him kill Stern," Penhall explained. Then he laughed, "then he said he'd lock me back up and do whatever he wanted. He was mad that Stern was running the show and was never letting him get involved in anything. I told him I'd go along with that. I had him convinced that I'd let him do whatever he wanted with us as long as Stern was gone."

"Wow," Tom commented, "what an idiot..."

Doug laughed, "I punched him in the face immediately."

Tom laughed as well. Then he sat up, "what if they wake up? We should go in there and make sure they don't get away. They could sneak out the back or something," his eyes were very wide and he looked incredibly serious. He started to stand.

"No," Doug disagreed, grabbing Tom's wrist and pulling him back down onto the bench, "we have no weapons. We know they had at least a switch blade. I'm not risking my life going back in there. And I'm not letting you risk yours."

They both looked up and toward the road when they heard sirens approaching, "I guess they'll take care of it," Tom noted.

The police cars were followed by ambulances. Three of them, just as Penhall had ordered, "that third ambulance better be for your neck," Hanson glared up at him.

Penhall frowned, "you don't have to let them look at anything you don't want them to see... But you could have broken ribs or something. You could be in shock and just not feel it right now. Have you seen your own reflection?"

Tom looked down at his ribs. He was frowning when he looked back up. Penhall could tell he didn't want to have the paramedics look him over. But he could see in Tom's eyes the dread of knowing that it was something that needed to be done. Tom knew he would be an idiot to not get himself looked over. He also had to know that Doug wasn't going to let him avoid it.

It wasn't long before cops were running up the front stairs of the school. Penhall knew some of them, but not the one that was speaking to him now.

"They're down in the locker room," Penhall said before the officer could ask, "it's down this main hall. Take the left hall in the middle nearly all the way down until you see the door labeled, 'boys locker room.' There are stairs leading down. One is lying on the floor between the lockers and the other's in the showers."

"Thank you, sir," the officer said, "why don't you get yourself and your partner over to the ambulances. Get yourselves checked out and then you can speak to your captain when he gets here."

"Wait," Doug called after him, "All I did was punch them. They could have gotten back up, so be careful. They had a switchblade, and I don't know what else... Really, they could be anywhere in the school by now."

The officer nodded, "suspects are armed," he called back to his men, "and possibly on the run."

"Come on, Hanson," Penhall stood up and led his partner down the stairs, toward the ambulances. Instead of going to a separate one, he stayed by Hanson's side. Neither of the men had beaten Doug as much as they had beaten Tom. He had that small cut on his neck and a few bruises from punches thrown at him, but nothing extremely violent had been done to him. He didn't feel an ambulance was necessary for himself.

"Can you tell me where you might be hurt, sir?" the paramedic asked. He turned to a co-worker, gestured toward Hanson's handcuffs, and quickly added, "can you get me something to get these cuffs off him?" The other paramedic went off to work on that.

"You could check to see if any ribs are broken. I've got bruises all over my arms, chest, and back mostly," Hanson informed him, "nothing feels broken, but I've been told I could be in shock or something..." He looked over at Penhall and shrugged.

"Sir," the second paramedic acknowledged Doug as he handed some sort of bolt-cutters to the paramedic working on Tom, "are you hurt?"

Penhall shrugged, "not really. Nothing serious."

"Let me bandage your wrists at least," the paramedic offered, looking down at Doug's bruised and cut wrists.

Doug nodded, "fine," he agreed.

As the paramedics set to work, Doug noticed Fuller had finally made it to the scene. He spoke with a few of the officers who were already there and then rushed up to Penhall, "You guys alright?" he asked, glancing over at Tom and then back at Doug.

"Yes, sir," Doug answered, "any word on the murderers? They find 'em yet?"

"That I don't know," Fuller responded, "I was told they just went in and that we'd be getting word shortly. Can you tell me what exactly happened here?" He looked back at Hanson again and frowned.

"Well," Doug started, "we figured out who probably committed the murders, but they kind of kidnapped us at the same time. We couldn't really report back, because we were locked up downstairs in the locker room," he didn't want to tell Fuller what exactly happened to Hanson, as he thought his partner would probably want to discuss it with him in private or not at all, so he just stayed vague, "they beat us up a little, but I convinced one of them, Mr. Gale, to let me go. I punched him in the face, punched out the other guy, and then got myself and Hanson out of there."

"Mr. Gale?" Fuller asked.

"Janitor," Tom clarified from the back of the ambulance where he was sitting as a paramedic cleaned the cut on his chest and then stuck a bandage on top of it.

"And 'the other guy?'" Fuller wondered, looking back at Doug.

"The principal," Doug informed him, "Mr. Wallace Stern."

Fuller shook his head, "out of everyone you'd think you could trust at a school, you'd think the principal would be near the top of the list."

"Yeah," Doug sighed, "one would think so..."

"Sir," an officer called out to Fuller.

Fuller excused himself and jogged over to the officer. Doug couldn't hear what they were saying, but he wished he could. He really wanted to know that the two men had been caught. If they got away, he'd never be able to sleep. And he certainly knew Hanson wouldn't.

He looked back at Hanson who wore an expression of exhaustion, "everything okay up there?" Penhall asked, his eyes focusing on the paramedic who was treating his friend.

"He looks like he's going to be fine," the paramedic smiled slightly, "probably will be sore for a while. He's got some pretty nasty bruises, but no signs of internal bleeding or broken bones. I can give you pain medication," the paramedic offered, looking at Tom. Then he looked back at Doug, "he'll be fine. Probably pretty sore for a week or so, but he'll be fine."

Doug nodded, "good," he was quite relieved. He knew his partner wouldn't have wanted to go to the hospital, so this was very good news. Now, after they gave their official report to Fuller, they could just go home and forget about this for a while.

"You boys are going to want to keep the cuts around your wrists clean to make sure they don't get infected. If anything is feeling wrong, don't hesitate to come in to the hospital and let us check you out," the second paramedic offered.

"And maybe try to take it easy for a while," the first paramedic looked at Tom, "your ribs are pretty bruised."

"Guys," Fuller walked back up behind him.

Doug turned around, feeling quite anxious. He hoped Fuller had good news, "any word? They find them both?"

Fuller sighed and narrowed his eyes, looking Penhall up and down, and then doing the same thing to Hanson. His gaze stayed on Hanson, "they found them both," he answered, "you want to explain why one of them was in the showers?"

Hanson shrugged, "that's just where he happened to be when Penhall knocked him out."

Doug wished he could just jump in and tell Fuller to drop the subject, but he knew that would be just as suspicious as any excuse Tom decided to give. He also wanted to grab both Tom and Fuller and drag them away from the paramedics and other cops. If Tom was going to talk about this, he'd probably want to do it away from all these other people.

Fuller didn't look at all convinced, "we're going back to the station," he told Tom, "you guys all done here?" he asked the paramedics. They nodded, so Fuller continued speaking to Tom. He also glanced at Doug, "the three of us need to talk."

"We really don't, Captain," Hanson persisted, "we'll write up a report. Business as usual."

"We can talk about it there," Fuller started, "or we can talk about it here. But one way or another, I want an explanation as to why your murder suspect was found with his pants undone, half exposed, lying in a puddle in the middle of a dozen running showers... Why you're wearing pants four sizes too big, and no shirt. Why you're soaking wet, and..." he looked at Doug, "why you're just wearing boxers."

Tom locked eyes with Doug who just looked at him sympathetically. Tom looked like a child caught in a lie. His eyes looked a bit frightened.

"I'm sorry if the issue is a sensitive one," Fuller began, "but I'd really like to know what happened. Telling me you both just got beaten up a little isn't going to cut it."

* * *

_**Author's Notes: I take the lack of reviews to mean people indeed do not love me anymore. I'll give you guys the rest of the chapters anyway though. And thank you to the one person who did review last time. :D I hope you liked this one better than the last. Just a fair warning, the next chapter has a somewhat graphic flashback/memory in it, telling what happened between the previous chapter and this one - just so you won't have to guess along with Penhall - so you'll actually know the whole truth of what happened to Hanson in the showers... You'll have every detail, pretty much... **_

_**It's more graphic than the previous chapter, but I tried to make it as tasteful as I could... It's not that bad, but you may desire to track me down and kill me when you read it...  
**_

_**Remember, this is a work of fiction, based on other fiction. No Tom Hansons were harmed in the making of this story. No Doug Penhalls were harmed either. They are both still perfectly okay. ^_^ (except **SPOILER ALERT** the fact that they are both actually dead. But I like to pretend that didn't happen and that they are forever young and alive.)  
**_


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8:

Tom sat in Fuller's office. He, Penhall, and Fuller were the only three at the office, as it was well after hours. As Fuller was in the main lobby making coffee, Doug and Hanson sat in silence in the chairs in front of their captain's desk. Hanson sat with his elbows on his thighs, leaned forward and staring at the floor. He didn't really have anything he wanted to say to Fuller about this. He wished he could just go home.

Penhall sat next to him. He had offered to wait outside, so each of the officers could speak with Fuller separately. He was probably trying to give Hanson some privacy but Tom didn't really want to face Fuller alone. It was hard enough for him to tell Doug what had happened, and he had even skimped on the details. Doug was like a brother to him. Fuller was more like a father, and Tom had no desire to talk to him about this. Even though he was an adult, sometimes Fuller made him feel like a teenager again. He felt like the man just wouldn't understand some things, and he certainly knew telling Fuller would be embarrassing. Telling anyone would be. The fewer people he told about all this, the better. He didn't need Fuller's support on this. Penhall was enough support, and even that was support he may not even be willing to accept.

Everyone wanted to know what happened, but he wasn't even sure... Had he been raped? Not really... Not completely. He wasn't hurt anyway, but Stern's fingers had been inside him. Not roughly or deep enough to cause physical damage, but it was still unwanted physical contact. He didn't want to say he had been raped. In fact, he wasn't sure if what happened to him counted as rape or not. If it had happened to someone else, Tom would have classified it as rape, but not since it happened to him. He certainly wasn't going to tell Fuller about it. He didn't think he'd tell Doug either. Did he need to? Was it relevant? If he wasn't injured from it, why did anyone have to know?

It was just an unpleasant event in his life. No one ever had to know it happened. There were plenty of times in his life something unpleasant happened to him and he didn't tell anyone. Sometimes a random stranger would be rude to him on the street, or a student at one of the schools where he worked undercover would try to bully him or would shove him or make fun of him over something stupid. He didn't tell everyone about those times, so why should he talk about this? What harm could his silence cause? Maybe he could just repress it and forget it ever happened.

But that was easier said than done. Some of the events of the night were a blur in his mind, but some of them were clear as day in his memory. Closing his eyes, he felt like he was back down there in the locker room:

_Stern was holding him firmly in place against the rough concrete wall. The wall's texture rubbing against his skin hurt, but he couldn't really move, and trying was causing him more pain than holding still would have. Everything seemed entirely hopeless. He hurt all over from all of the abuse his body had taken, and he was breathing so fast his lungs felt like they could burst. The principal's hands had been all over him. He had slid his fingers into the officer's body, claiming he was trying to make all this easier on him. As if that wasn't unbearable enough, now he was preparing to do the same thing with his penis._

_Hanson was unable to control his own sobs. He couldn't even plead with the man anymore, even though it seemed now would be a very good time to do so. As he felt Stern trying to push himself into him, Hanson struggled as much as he possibly could to keep it from happening, but he could barely move. Tom closed his eyes tightly and hoped he could either forget about this or be killed immediately afterward. He knew this was going to hurt, and knew he'd never be able to get over it. He couldn't even imagine how he was going to get through this ordeal. How could he exist while something this horrific was happening to him? It didn't seem like a logical question, but at the same time, it did in this situation.  
_

_"You gotta relax, kid," Stern whispered into his ear, "I'm trying to be gentle with you, but you've got to help me out. I'm losing patience," Stern replaced his penis with his finger, "I'll try to loosen you up a bit, but there's only so much I can do. If you don't want to be in pain, you've got to calm down and let me be gentle. You stay all tensed up and make me force it into you, it's going to tear you apart. If you're fighting me the whole time, this is going to end up being the worst experience of your life."  
_

_Tom's throat felt extremely dry. So much so that he couldn't even bring himself to speak. This was already the worst experience of his life. Instead of pleading words, Tom was only able to make groaning and whimpering sounds as he continued to struggle against the man's body, but still made absolutely no progress. All he succeeded in was making himself even more exhausted, and even more scratched up by the rough concrete wall.  
_

_Tom whimpered and tried to arch his body away as he felt Stern's finger gliding slowly into him again. This time, he pushed it into Tom's body as far as he could. The sensation wasn't pain, but rather discomfort and humiliation. Stern's hands were rough and warm and made Tom feel like he might vomit. The man was saying something to him in a tone much too calm for the situation, but Tom was no longer listening. He could feel Stern wiggling his finger, moving it in small circles, and sliding it slowly in and out of him. The man was still whispering something into Tom's ear, but Tom found it impossible to focus on what he was saying. _

_"See?" Stern cooed as he plunged his finger as deep as it would go and held it there, "this isn't so bad, right? We'll just ease into this, and you'll end up having a good time. Everyone wins."_

_Tom tried to jerk away. But all he accomplished was jarring the foreign appendage inside him, resulting in a strange sensation inside of him and a startled gasp emitting from his own mouth. He knew the more me moved the more uncomfortable all this would be, yet he still couldn't bring himself to just stay still and let Stern do whatever he wanted to him.  
_

_Mr. Stern laughed, "you keep fighting me, little man. Go ahead and wiggle around all you want. I kind of like it. Maybe you could try rocking back and forth. You're probably going to end up enjoying this a lot more than I even will. Think we could fit another finger in there?" Stern asked. Tom could imagine that the man was probably smiling.  
_

_Tom attempted to jerk away from the man again. This time he was prepared for the strange feeling of the finger inside him not quite moving at the same pace as his body, so he didn't gasp again. His struggles still remained futile.  
_

_He winced and screwed his eyes shut even tighter than they had already been as he felt another finger sticky with saliva slip into him right next to the other. The presence of two fingers still wasn't really what he'd describe as painful, but it was certainly beginning to feel like way too much. It was incredibly uncomfortable and he knew the discomfort was likely to turn into pain very soon.  
_

_Stern spoke as he slid his two fingers in and out of his victim, twisted them, opened and closed them like scissors, and anything else he could think of, "I don't know how much longer I can wait," he breathed into Tom's ear. Tom shuddered at the man's hot breath on his face, "the longer I do this, the more likely I'm not going to be able to be gentle with you... You know, your struggling is going to make this a lot harder on you, but it's making it easier on me. Feeling you move around like this... You're just so much more than the other boys were. I didn't think anyone could top Victor, but I was wrong. Some of the boys just lie back and give up. There's no fun in fucking a corpse. But not you. You're so lively. I'm going to remember you for a long time."  
_

_Tom breathed in a long, shaky breath and mustered up enough courage to finally speak again, "Stop," he pleaded, hating the frantic tone and terror in his own voice, "please... Just think about what you're doing. This is so wrong..." He felt ridiculous and embarrassed to be pleading with someone who currently had his fingers shoved up inside him. He still couldn't believe this was happening.  
_

_Stern didn't say anything in response. Instead, he put his free hand in front of Tom, on his chest and then slowly moved it downward while his fingers on the other hand still moved about, continuing to create the very unpleasant and uncomfortable feelings Tom hoped he'd never feel again.  
_

_When he felt Stern's hand was moving down too low, Hanson crushed his body against the wall, smashing Stern's hand in the process. He also succeeded in smashing his own hands which were trapped in front of himself, and in creating a very uncomfortable feeling as Stern's fingers moved unnaturally inside him. Tom groaned at the feeling and tried to keep himself from throwing up. The man withdrew his hand from in front of his victim and laughed, "Feisty little guy," he moved his free hand then to Tom's neck, and wrapped his fingers lightly around his throat, not choking, but just resting his hand there. He held his fingers inside Tom as deep as possible for a moment, stretching them gently around as much as Tom's body would allow him to, "you starting to enjoy this yet?" he mocked.  
_

_Tom squeezed his eyes shut again. The feeling of Stern's fingers was beginning to hurt him. It was not blinding pain like it would have been if the man's hands were larger or if he had been being more rough, but just dull, the same as the difference between someone slamming a hammer into your hand at full force and someone putting a hammer down on your hand and gently pressing it down slowly.  
_

_Stern was now wiggling and bending his fingers. He started off barely moving them at all and worked up from there, slowly moving them more and more until Tom couldn't help but whimper.  
_

_"I love your little noises," Stern informed him, moving his fingers outward so that they were almost completely out of Tom's body, only to push them back in again. Tom didn't want to give Stern the satisfaction of hearing him whimper or groan again, but Stern didn't seem like he'd be pleased until he heard at least one more. He moved his fingers outward and then shoved them quickly inward again. When Tom still remained quiet, he repeated the action yet again, and again, and again, until eventually Tom couldn't help an audible wince escaping his lips.  
_

_Finally Tom felt the man's fingers slide out of him completely. He wanted to feel relief, but knew what was coming next would be even worse. _

_"Why don't you get on your hands and knees?" Stern suggested, putting his hands on Tom's sides under his arms and then sliding them down until they rested on his backside, "If you kind of angle yourself in a way that it'll be easier, this won't hurt as much. Tell you what," he offered, "you get on all fours, just breathe in and out real steady a couple times, stay calm, and we'll do this the right way. You can even tell me if I'm hurting you, and then we'll try it slower or at another angle or something. I'd love for this to be something we both enjoy. I'd love for you to stay with me forever. I don't want to have to kill you. I really like you."  
_

_Tom shook his head violently, "No," he gasped, trying to pull his legs together, but Stern still had them pinned with his own larger legs, "get off me!" he pleaded, feeling panic rising in him again.  
_

_"Fine," Stern sounded somewhat angry now, "have it your way. Stay standing. I'll fuck you; you'll resist, so it will hurt. You'll refuse to stay with me, and I'll end up having to kill you."  
_

___The principal smothered himself with more of his own saliva and then used his finger to rub some more of the warm, disgusting fluid onto Tom, pushing his finger inside him just a bit one last time as he did so. _Just as Tom had predicted, there was then something bigger and much more horrifying pressed up against him where the man's fingers had just been.  


_He could hear Stern laughing, "this is nothing like my little finger," he warned him, "I'll go as slowly as I can. The rest is up to you. I'll warn you now though, once I get going, things might get out of control. Especially since I'm doing this with you. You just make me feel crazy. The sooner you relax, the better."  
_

_Tom tried to thrash around, to move any little bit so that Stern couldn't do what he was planning on doing, but he could still hardly move at all. Stern had absolutely no trouble positioning himself exactly where he needed to be, regardless of how much Tom was trying to fight it.  
_

_Another sob escaped Tom's throat as he felt the man pushing himself into his body very slightly, very slowly, but not nearly slowly enough. He could have been pushing himself into Tom at a rate of a millimeter per hour and it still would have been too fast. _

_"You can still tell me if I'm hurting you," he heard Stern's too-calm voice behind him, "I'll do what I can."_

_Tom sobbed again, "Stop! You're hurting me!" he called out immediately, hoping it would make Stern stop, "please!" Truthfully, he probably wasn't really in much pain, if any. He was just so scared. He wasn't sure what he was feeling right now, besides fear and dread. His mind was so frantic at this point that someone probably could have shot him and he wouldn't have known it. Was he in pain? He didn't think so, but if saying he was would make Stern change his mind, he'd go ahead and say it. _

_Stern just laughed, "impossible. I guess I can't trust your word then. Let's just do this."_

_With each passing moment, Tom felt himself breathing more and more heavily and his sobbing was becoming less and less controlled. Tears were streaming down his face and he could barely let in a breath between his choked sobs. He could feel the tip of Stern's penis pushing into him so slowly that it was still barely inside him at all. But it was bigger than his fingers had been and Tom knew he'd wish for death before the end of this. He found his own mind drifting away from himself and his vision was going dark. Either that, or his eyes were still closed. He couldn't make sense of anything anymore. He didn't even know if he was still standing.  
_

_The next thing the officer knew, he was staring at Stern's unmoving form on the floor and Penhall was there, looking at him with a very worried expression on his face. He was walking toward Hanson and speaking to him, saying things Tom couldn't understand, since he couldn't bring himself to focus on anything at all. _

When Penhall had finally come to his rescue, Hanson had felt confused, like maybe he had been imagining it. He had wondered if he had finally passed out from all of the stress and exhaustion and was dreaming. He had even wondered if maybe he had died and Penhall was just an illusion given to him in some sort of afterlife. But it didn't seem so now. If this was some sort of dream, it was awfully detailed and was lasting a very long time. And his body was too tired and pained with bruises for him to be in any afterlife. If he _was_ dead, his afterlife sure wasn't anything special. Being in pain and having his captain yell at him wasn't his idea of heaven.

His mind must have just shut down for a moment. He wondered if anything else happened that he was just repressing. Could things have happened to him during that moment in time he couldn't seem to remember? Had Stern raped him completely? He would know, right? He would be able to feel it still... It would have hurt. It would have hurt so horribly that it would have been impossible for it to have happened and for Tom to feel no lasting effects from the event. Was he in pain now? Not there. So it couldn't have happened any longer than what he remembered. At least no longer than mere seconds.

He wondered where the line was drawn between what was rape and what wasn't. Was it really rape if the man had just used his fingers? What if he used his penis but it only went inside him a few centimeters? Was it only rape if it hurt? Hanson felt like such an idiot thinking about all this. He knew exactly what rape was. He was a police officer and he dealt with rape victims on occasion. If a high school student had come up to him and told him that the exact same thing that had happened to Tom had happened to him or her, Tom would have considered it rape and would have gone after the offender with all of his efforts. Yet he couldn't bear to think of it as rape since it happened to him. There had to be a line somewhere. Nothing had been pushed into him very far, and none of it was horribly painful. It wasn't rape. It was unwanted physical contact and nothing more.

"You doing okay, Hanson?" he was shaken from his thoughts when he heard his partner's worried voice next to him. Doug was looking at him with a mixture of worry and sadness displayed in his kind features. Just seeing Doug's face made him feel better. Did it really matter what happened to him down in the locker room? He wasn't there now. He was here now, with his friend. His friend who would never let something like that happen to him again. Everything was okay now.

Tom nodded, offering Penhall a small smile.

Penhall smiled back, but their expressions quickly went back to serious and their eyes gazed down at the floor as their captain walked into the room. He set two cups of coffee down in front of them, walked around the desk, sat down and just looked at them.

...

All three of the men had been silent for a very long, very awkward couple of minutes. Tom and Doug sat on one side of the desk, and Fuller sat on the other. Fuller's eyes remained glued to them, while they both continued to look intently down at the floor.

Since the officers didn't want to talk, their captain took it upon himself to finally begin the conversation, "these guys were being investigated for rape and murder," Fuller started, "did they rape you?" he asked very bluntly.

Fuller wasn't the kind of guy who typically liked to play guessing games. When he wanted to know the answer to a question, he didn't try to trick the person he was speaking to into letting it out by mistake. Instead he just asked the question right up front, no matter how awkward it might be.

Doug frowned at the sound of those words. He never would have thought he or his partner would have to answer that question.

Tom sighed and shook his head, "no," he answered simply. His voice was small and sounded a bit shaky. Penhall could tell that he was very nervous to be discussing this again. So nervous, in fact, that he didn't even offer any more than that one simple word.

Fuller glanced over at Penhall next, wanting an answer from him as well. Doug shook his head, "no," he answered just as his partner had.

"You guys are going to need to tell me what happened then," Fuller requested, "I'm not trying to put you on the spot here, Hanson," he looked at Tom sympathetically, "I want what's best for everyone who works here. As your captain, I feel it's my place to keep tabs on you all, at least while you're on the job. If there's something you're not telling me, I'd urge you to let it out. In order to help you, I'm going to need to know what you're going through. All of your clothing is missing. You're just wearing what I assume are Penhall's jeans. You've got to explain that."

Hanson hesitated, "he didn't rape me," he said, avoiding eye contact with anyone or anything but the floor, "but he tried."

No one spoke for a moment.

"I'm sorry, Tom," Fuller looked over at him, but Tom's gaze never left the floor, "I'm not going to ask you to give me any details you don't want me to know. There are certain boundaries between what's part of the case and what's personal, but sometimes those two categories overlap. I just want to make sure you both are safe. If either of you have injuries from this ordeal that you haven't been forthcoming with, you're going to need to get them checked out. Maybe you're telling the truth. But you have to see why I think this is all suspicious."

"I'm fine," Tom promised him, "Stern really didn't rape me. Penhall got there just in time. I promise. And the paramedic patched me up about everything else. All I have are scrapes and bruises. If anyone needs to get looked at, it's Penhall. He didn't even see a paramedic at all."

Penhall smiled a bit at his partner's attempt to shift the attention away from himself and onto Doug, "I'm fine, sir," Doug assured his captain. He even raised up his hands and showed Fuller where the paramedic had bandaged his wrists, "I'm all taken care of. I just have a couple scrapes and bruises here and there too."

"I'm going to trust that you two are telling me the truth," Fuller looked from Hanson to Penhall. Penhall noticed Tom was still refusing to make eye contact with anything but the floor. Fuller continued, "you're both adults. I don't have to babysit you; you can take care of yourselves. I can give you advice, but I can't make you follow it."

"Thank you sir," Penhall acknowledged him, "we'll both be fine. I'll make sure of it."

"I am, however going to need a report from each of you on what happened tonight," he added, "you can type it up now while it's fresh in your mind, or you can wait until tomorrow. I know it's probably the last thing you want to do right now, and you won't want to do it tomorrow either, but it's something that needs to be done. And I want you to include everything that happened. This case may be personal, but it's still your job not to leave anything out of the reports. If it's something that would be relevant in a case not involving you, you've got to include it. Try to see this whole case from a different perspective other than your own when you're writing your reports. You got that?"

Penhall nodded, "yes sir."

"Hanson?" Fuller asked, his tone still serious, "you got that?"

"Yep," Hanson sounded aggravated and still refused to look up. Doug knew writing the report would be something his partner was not at all enthusiastic about. He wondered how much Hanson would indeed leave out, regardless of the instructions their captain had just given them.

Doug looked over and Tom, "you want to stay here and type those up, or go home and do it tomorrow?" he asked, "if you stay, I will too. If not, I'll take you home."

"Hanson, you look exhausted," Fuller cut in, "I think you should just head home and don't worry about this until tomorrow. You've got a job to do, but your health comes first. I'm not going to demand that you two stay late and fill our paperwork after all you've just been through."

Tom shrugged and finally looked up and made eye contact with the man, "whatever you say, Coach," he moved to stand up, "see you tomorrow then."

"Hanson," Fuller called out as the officer was heading toward the door, "you turn in that report and take the rest of the day off tomorrow. You too Penhall."

"You sure about that, Captain?" Penhall asked, but Tom just waved and walked out of the room.

"I think you could both use some time off," Fuller explained, "could you do me a favor and kind of look after him? If he doesn't want to talk to me, there's nothing I can do, but he trusts you. I don't know if he's really processing everything that happened tonight. He seems sort of out of it."

"He trusts you too, sir," Doug assured him, "he just doesn't want to talk about it. It was the scariest situation I've ever been in. I was so scared for both of us, but especially for Tom. After hours of them taunting him, and even taking him upstairs and bringing him back all bruised up, Stern insisted that he shower. He forced him to undress and took him into the showers. Then I finally convinced Gale to unlock me. (We were cuffed to pipes in the locker room through most of the ordeal.)"

"How did you manage to convince him to let you go?" Fuller wondered.

"I'll explain it in the report," Penhall offered, "it's a long story. Anyway, when I got into the shower area, Stern was crushing Tom up against the wall and it looked pretty bad. Gale had thrown away his clothes. That's why I gave him my pants. Tom claims I got there right in time, and I believe him. He's still traumatized about it, but at least it isn't as bad as it might have been."

"Like I said," Fuller started, "if he isn't telling the whole story, we can't really force it out of him... He and Mr. Stern are probably the only two people who will ever know the full story. But you know him better than most. If he was going to tell anyone the truth, it would be you. And if anyone would know if he was lying, that'd be you too. Just keep an eye on him when you can, and try to get him to talk if you think there's anything he's not forthcoming with. If that man raped him, I want him to pay for it."

"Right. Keep and eye on him and try to get him to talk. Will do, Captain," Doug nodded, "I was planning on it anyway. So, we'll see you briefly tomorrow, and then we'll be back at work for good the next day. Sound good?"

Fuller nodded, "if you ever want to talk about this, I'm here," he added, "that goes for both of you. Hanson seems to have gotten the worst deal in all this, but that doesn't diminish what you went through. After I read your reports, I may refer you both to a psychologist. Maybe you shouldn't tell Hanson about that quite yet. He seems like he might be opposed to it."

Penhall laughed, "yeah, probably."

"See you tomorrow then," Fuller waved.

Penhall nodded and walked out the Captain's office. Upon walking out, he noticed Tom was still there, sitting at his usual desk. He just stared blankly ahead, not even looking up when Doug approached him, "can I drive you home?" Doug offered.

Tom nodded, "yep," he stood up.

"Alrighty," Doug waved him over, "onward to my car."

* * *

**_Author's Notes: Thanks for all the reviews on the previous chapter. :) Looks like you guys liked it better than the one before it. There is only one more chapter after this one... I hoped you liked this chapter (I hope no one hates me too much for what I let Stern do to Hanson...) And I hope you'll like the next chapter, which should be up shortly, as soon as I find time to edit it for grammar, spelling, and all that... As sorry as I am to see this all end, we all must know it cannot go on forever._**


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

The car ride home from the chapel was mostly quiet, but somehow Doug had convinced Tom to come over to his house instead of having him take him back to his own. Penhall really didn't want Hanson to be alone tonight, and he figured Hanson probably didn't want to be alone that much either, especially considering how easily he had convinced Tom to come home with him. He thought he'd have to practically force him to spend the night at Doug's apartment, but it was really pretty much as simple as Doug suggesting it and Tom agreeing.

As they entered Doug's apartment, Tom stood in the doorway looking quite awkward. He wasn't sure why Tom would feel hesitant to enter the apartment. He'd been to Penhall's place many times before and always seemed perfectly willing to make himself at home. Perhaps he wouldn't have felt comfortable no matter where he was tonight.

"Well, come on in," Penhall offered, "I'll find you some dry clothing." Right now Tom was still just wearing Doug's jeans and a police jacket someone had given him back at the school.

"Could I take a shower?" Tom asked. His cheeks were a little pink and he looked down at the floor as though he was ashamed or embarrassed, "I'll try to go fast," he added.

Doug nodded, "sure, but Tom," he said before his partner could head off toward the shower, "I really want to believe you, about what you said did and didn't happen back at the school, but I just want to stress this, just one time. If there is any evidence on you, that taking a shower would destroy, I'd urge you to say so now," he paused, trying to think of what he could say to get Tom to understand where he was coming from, "Just try to look at this from a viewpoint other than your own. I know it's hard, but just try to take yourself out of the picture. If whatever happened to you had happened to a high school student you were trying to help, what would you tell him to do?"

"I'd tell him to take a shower," Tom frowned, looking up at his partner with raised eyebrows as though he thought Penhall was being an irrational idiot.

"This is the last time I'll say it..." Doug sighed, "and it might not need to be said. You know showering destroys certain physical evidence if it's there. And I don't want to keep bothering you about this, but I just want to make sure you don't do anything you'll regret later. So if there's any sort of evidence like that on you-"

Tom shook his head, "there isn't."

Penhall nodded, hoping his partner was telling the whole truth. There was only so much he could do. Asking him the same thing over and over would only succeed in making the younger man upset, so he decided to just go with whatever his partner said for now, "There should be a towel on the rack. I'll find you some clothing and set it out on the bed," he offered.

"Thanks," Tom smiled and left the room.

...

Hanson sighed as he closed the bathroom door behind him. He leaned his back up against the closed door and closed his eyes. While he felt very relieved to finally be out of that school and someplace he felt safe, he wasn't really sure what he should do next. Doug kept looking at him like he knew Tom was hiding something, and kept asking him the same questions over and over again. Hanson knew his friend was just trying to help him. He just didn't know if he was ready to accept that help.

He shrugged out of the jacket a police officer had thrown on him while they were still at the school. It was too big and he had no idea whose it was. Was he supposed to return it? Maybe he'd just give it to Fuller later and ask him to try to find its owner.

With his hands on the sides of the sink, Hanson leaned toward the mirror and just stared at himself. He looked awful. His eyes looked tired and sad and he was frowning. He didn't like that he looked so hurt, but he didn't really know if he could force himself to smile right now.

Looking himself over more, he found that he was covered in bruises. That was no surprise, but it still made his shoulders slump. He hadn't really looked at himself in a mirror since all this had happened. He hadn't seen himself as everyone else had. No wonder everyone was so worried about him. If he had seen Doug looking like this, Tom would have insisted he go to the hospital too, and would likely annoy the man with questions just as much as Penhall was doing to him.

Finally, Tom shrugged out of Penhall's jeans. He wanted to throw them away. Anything he was wearing was now disgusting and dirty. Burning the jeans and the police jacket would probably be for the best, but they weren't his to destroy, so he threw them in a small pile in the corner, away from the rest of his partner's laundry. He supposed they could wash the clothes later, or put them in a paper bag and throw them under a bed somewhere to be lost forever.

Next, he turned on the shower and stepped inside. For a moment, hearing the water falling brought back bad memories, but he quickly pushed them out of his mind. He refused to be scared of showering for the rest of his life. Besides, this shower was different in so many ways from the other one. The water was warm and soothing. He was alone and in a safe place where no one could see him and no one could hurt him. And this time he was making himself cleaner instead of dirtier.

Tom looked around in the shower. On the shelf, Penhall had a mostly full bottle of shampoo and a half-empty bottle of body wash. He took the body wash first, squirted a large quantity of it in his hands, and scrubbed it all over himself until he was covered in suds. He continued scrubbing as he rinsed it off and then washed his hair. But he still felt disgusting. So he used more of the body wash, repeating his first action over again, scrubbing all over his body and then rinsing it off.

As he did this, he was beginning to feel extremely overwhelmed and frustrated. No matter how much he scrubbed, he still felt just as dirty. Was he ever going to feel clean again?

As he scrubbed the soap all over his body for a third time, he began to feel himself breathing much more rapidly than he should have been as he began to panic. Why couldn't he wash the feeling of Stern's touch off himself?

The bottle of soap was looking less and less full. He wanted to stop using it before he accidentally used all of it, but he couldn't. He kept feeling like scrubbing himself down just one more time might do the trick, but each time, he felt the same way when he was done. He scrubbed all over his arms where he still felt the faint sensation of Stern's hands squeezing around them. He scrubbed his chest where Stern had placed his hands several times. He scrubbed his legs where Stern had pinned them against the wall, and his neck where Stern's hand had threatened to choke him. Tom could feel the man's fingers all over him. Every place the man had touched, Tom could still feel him there, even though he was gone now.

He thought about the traces of Stern's saliva that were probably still inside him. How was he supposed to clean that? And the more he thought about it, the more he could actually feel the memory of Stern's fingers pushing into him. Was he going to feel that man's hands all over him forever?

Hanson felt tears running down his cheeks. He felt so stupid. He was perfectly safe now. Stern was going to go to prison, probably for the rest of his life for raping and killing those other two boys. Gale would probably do quite a bit of time for helping Stern. Everything that had happened tonight was now the past. It was over. Gone. Done. What was there to cry about? He was a grown man! A police officer! And yet he was reduced to tears because someone touched him where he didn't want to be touched and he couldn't wash away the feeling with soap and water. He felt ashamed of himself for behaving like a child. He was more mature than this. He needed to just get over himself. What was crying going to solve? But that was easier said than done. As much as he wanted to force himself to man up, he wasn't really finding any success in doing so.

He soon found himself sitting down in the tub under the steady stream of warm water. His knees were drawn up to his chest and his arms were wrapped around his legs. Tom knew he probably wouldn't get the chance to cry again for quite a while. If he needed to cry, he figured he might as well get it all out of his system right here, right now, where no one could see or hear him. The last thing he wanted was for Doug to know he was this upset. That would only make his partner worry more, and would thus result in more questions. He rested his forehead against his knees and let the tears fall.

...

Doug went to his room and started digging through his dresser, trying to find some of his clothes that might fit his partner. Doug wasn't that much bigger than Tom. The jeans might not have fit well, but something like pajama pants wouldn't be so much of a problem.

He eventually settled on some boxers he rarely wore, some flannel pajama pants, and a plain white t-shirt. He wasn't sure how Tom would feel about wearing another man's boxers, but figured he'd leave the option open and let him decide for himself.

He decided he'd wait until the next day to take a shower himself. He felt a little dirty from all that went on, but he also felt quite tired. He could let Hanson have his bed if he wanted, since he'd be clean, and he himself could take the sofa or the recliner, in order to keep his bed from getting dirty.

While Hanson was still occupied by the shower, Doug quickly changed out of his dirty clothing and into different boxers and a white t-shirt similar to the one he had laid out for Tom.

As he waited for his partner to be finished with the shower, Doug decided to go into the living room and watch television. Nothing good was on, so he settled on a game show. He couldn't really pay attention to it though. He was still focused on the events of the day.

He sincerely hoped Hanson wasn't holding back too many details about what had happened to him in the showers. He wasn't so much worried about any evidence being destroyed as he was about his partner's mental state. Keeping something like that to himself would not be good for him at all. Plus, he was sure Stern would go away for a long time just for his other crimes, so even if there was more to the story than what Tom was admitting, it wasn't like the principal was going to be back on the streets any time soon. Two rapes and two murders, both of minors, plus the kidnapping and assault of two police officers would pretty much guarantee he'd never be out of prison.

Doug was more worried about Gale than Stern. Gale might not spend that much time in prison at all. He was an accomplice, but Penhall was pretty sure he wasn't really directly involved with either of the rapes or murders. He had wanted to be though. If he got out of prison, someone was going to get hurt. Maybe he wouldn't track down Doug or Tom, but he'd find someone. Eventually Gale was going to be the cause of someone's death.

Penhall wondered if Hanson was worried about Gale. Did he even know how Gale was looking at him while they were held captive? Was he aware of the things Gale had said about him? The man had obviously wanted Tom more than Doug, but did Hanson even know? It would have been hard for him to focus on such things while everything else was going on, but it was very possible he could have noticed little things here and there. Would he be worried that Gale would come back for him if given the chance? He sincerely hoped Tom would be okay after all this. He seemed so traumatized, and not without good reason.

The look on his partner's face when he had found him in the showers was heartbreaking. He had looked so devoid of emotion, like he'd given up all hope. He had tear streaks down his face, which was very unsettling as well. Doug knew Hanson was a man who never cried, no matter how sad he was, and no matter how much pain he was in. He must have been so unbelievably frightened to have been driven to tears.

Just the thought of how differently this could have ended made Doug feel sick. He could have come in a minute later... He didn't even want to think about it. Or what if he hadn't been able to come to his partner's aid at all? They could both be dead right now. Or maybe they'd still be alive. He couldn't bear to imagine what physical and mental state they would be in if they were still cuffed down in that locker room. He didn't know what to say to Hanson even as it was. What would he be saying to console his partner if they were still locked down there? Doug shuddered.

"Hey," he heard Tom's voice as his partner walked slowly into the room, "thanks for the clothing," he raised his arm to the side, trying to gesture at himself.

"No problem," Doug smiled.

The clothing was a bit too big for Tom, but at least it wasn't falling off of him like the jeans had been. The pajama pants had a tie around the waistband to hold them up. Doug watched his partner as he walked over and sat down on the sofa next to him. He sighed tiredly as he sat down and then groaned like he would have if he'd been exercising all day.

Doug frowned, "Do you feel okay?" he asked, "did you take those pills the paramedic gave you? Are you in pain?"

Tom smiled, "I'm fine, Doug. Whatever pain I feel now is likely to triple by tomorrow. I'll save my complaints until then."

Penhall looked at his partner's face. He looked so tired. Hanson's dark eyes looked almost haunted, like they were holding back copious secrets, like there were so many things he wanted to say but wouldn't let himself. Doug also noticed his partner's eyes were rimmed by skin that looked slightly red as though he'd been crying.

Doug almost asked him what he had been crying about, but stopped himself. It seemed like kind of a stupid question. Doug could pretty much guess why his partner would have been crying. So instead of asking, he offered something more general, "you can talk to me about any of this, you know," Doug offered, "anything you have to say, I'll listen. We're partners. That's what I'm here for, to support you in any way you need it."

Tom's eyes still looked troubled, but he forced a smile, "I know," he said.

Doug frowned, "keeping all this to yourself isn't good for you. You can tell me anything you want. And you have no reason to feel ashamed. Stern's the one who should feel ashamed. None of this was your fault."

"I know," Tom said again, "I already pretty much told you everything. There's no need to go into excruciating detail. I'm sure you wouldn't really want to hear it, and I sure as hell don't want to say it. So we'll just leave it at that. You know the gist of it all ready."

"Well," Doug sighed, "you're wrong about one thing. I do want to hear about it. Anything you say, I want to hear. I wouldn't be asking if I didn't want to listen to you. But I understand if you aren't ready to talk about it. Whenever you are, I'll be ready to listen." He didn't want to press the issue too much. He wanted his partner to talk to him, but he didn't want to force the truth out of him. He could tell him at his own pace. As frustrating as it would be for Doug, he'd just have to wait until Tom was ready to speak up, "just remember that I'm here for you. You can tell me anything."

Tom smiled, "thank you," he said simply. Doug sincerely hoped his partner would eventually want to tell him anything he had been holding back. The longer he waited to say something the more likely he wouldn't ever say it.

"You want something to drink or a sandwich or something? Cereal or anything?" Doug offered. They had skipped dinner. Doug himself didn't feel hungry, but he didn't know if Tom was.

Tom shook his head, "Nah," he declined. He looked over at his partner and narrowed his eyes, "Did I ever thank you for saving me?" he asked.

Penhall shrugged, "I'm not sure. Everything happened so fast."

"Well, thank you," Tom forced a smile, "and thank you for letting me come over. I don't know what I would have done all night by myself. I still feel really dirty..." He must have noticed Doug gave him a worried look, because he proceeded to insist against Doug's fears, "I'm telling the truth... He didn't rape me. But he still touched me, and it makes me feel sickening."

Doug nodded, "I'm sorry I couldn't prevent him from doing that," he frowned, "if there was anything I could have done, I would have done it. He took you away from me twice, and both times I wanted so badly to do anything to prevent him from taking you. There was nothing I could do. I was so scared for you."

"They hurt you too, Penhall," Tom frowned, "everyone seems to forget that. I was scared for you too. When Stern took me upstairs, I had no idea what Gale was doing to you in the locker room. I still don't know what happened to you. Everyone's so worried about me. Everyone keeps wanting me to fill them in on every single detail of what happened to me, but no one even asks you. Who knows what Gale could have done while I was gone?"

"We mostly just talked. But he did get a little rough at one point. Nothing I couldn't handle," Doug informed him, "you tired yet? I mean, I'm sure you are... but if you want to go to bed, I'll take the sofa, so you can have my bed. It's clean. I haven't had any ladies over or anything."

Tom laughed, "of course you haven't."

Doug smiled, very relieved that his partner was willing to joke around with him. In this moment, his partner's eyes actually looked bright and cheerful and he wore his usual smile.

"Can't we just both sleep in here? I'll take the chair," he offered, looking serious again. His eyebrows were knitted together as if he was asking Doug to make some huge sacrifice and was worried his partner would decline. He looked like he was fully prepared to actually beg Doug to consider his request.

Doug nodded, "you can stay on the couch so you'll be more comfortable, but I really don't mind you taking the bed."

"No," Tom declined, "I just... I don't know... I'd feel better with both of us in here," he sighed and shook his head, "I know it's stupid... I'm being an irrational idiot-"

"It's not stupid," Doug disagreed, "and it's not irrational. I'd feel better with both of us in here too, as a matter of fact. I was just being polite," he smiled.

"But I don't think I could sleep now if I tried," Tom frowned, "if you're ready for bed though, I could turn the television off."

"I'll stay up as long as you do," Doug offered, "we can talk. About anything. Whatever you want to take your mind off everything. We can talk about coffee, stuff we used to do as kids, movies, cars," he paused, trying to think of more possible topics of conversation, "uh... fashion... or llamas, or whatever you want to."

Tom nodded, "you ever owned llamas?" he asked.

Doug laughed. Out of the topics he had presented, he didn't think his partner would choose that one to discuss, "no. you?"

Hanson shook his head, "never really had any space for them," he yawned, slouched down, and closed his eyes. Doug could see his partner was exhausted, whether he admitted it or not.

"Would you have wanted one if you had room for it?" Doug asked, looking his partner up and down. His eyes were still closed, so Doug took this as a free opportunity to survey his partner's visible injuries without Tom getting angry with him. His arms were lined with bruises, which Doug knew would look even worse in the morning. His wrists were also encircled with cuts and bruises from the handcuffs. The paramedics had bandaged his wrists for him, but he must have not seen it necessary to replace those bandages after his shower.

Penhall looked at his own wrists, which were still bandaged. He slid one of the bandages up to survey the damage. He hadn't really paid much attention to himself, not even when the paramedic insisted that he bandage his wrists. He frowned as he noticed how bad his wrist looked. It was bruised and cut even worse than Hanson's. He hadn't realized it until now. But he knew why they were so injured. He had wanted to get out and help his partner so desperately that he was fully prepared to rip off his own hands if that's what he had to do.

He wondered how much pain his partner was in right now. When Doug had found him, his chest, back, and arms were covered in bruises. Doug had never seen his partner so beaten up. How could Stern hurt him like that? Tom had done nothing to deserve such brutal treatment. Sure, maybe Penhall's partner tended to taunt their murder suspects a little more than he should have, but there was nothing he could have said that would warrant being punched, kicked, and grabbed so roughly. Stern was a relatively big man. Tom wasn't tiny, but he certainly wasn't big. The principal against the officer was not a fair match at all. Poor Tom didn't have a chance, especially not while his hands were chained together, or to a pipe so that he could barely move.

Hanson certainly looked small now. Just looking at his partner sitting on the couch next to him made him feel incredibly guilty. Lying on Penhall's couch with his eyes closed, Tom looked completely vulnerable. Hanson trusted his partner with his life. He had trusted Doug to watch out for him. Penhall felt very guilty that he couldn't protect his partner more efficiently. That was a big part of his job - to protect his partner. It was part of the job for all cops, the most important part in his opinion. And he had failed.

"I don't think llamas are really my thing," Tom informed him. His thoughts must have currently been more carefree than Doug's, which made Doug smile. He was glad he was able to get Tom's mind off of everything that had happened, "what do you do with them? Ride them? I'm not really sure what they're for."

"Just having around, I guess," Doug shrugged, "I don't think anyone rides llamas. Maybe you can keep them around and sell their wool. Or maybe they're just nice pets."

Tom's eyes were still closed. Doug looked at his face. His cheek was scratched and it looked like he had some light bruising there as well. He wished he could punch both Gale and Stern all over again. Even though Gale didn't do much, that didn't mean he wasn't capable of it. And he knew the janitor was more than willing to do terrible things just like Stern had. Doug shuddered to think what the janitor would have done to Tom if given the chance. Though a follower, the man was obviously quite disturbed. In fact, Doug imagined that Gale would have probably been even more cruel than Stern if Stern would have let him.

"Do you think Fuller's mad at me?" Tom asked, raising his feet up onto the couch and turning so he faced his partner.

"Nah," Doug doubted it, "he's worried about you. That's all. You know how he is."

Tom nodded, "I think I was kind of rude to him. Over and over again, actually."

"He knows you didn't mean to be," Doug assured him.

Tom nodded and laid his head down on the back of the couch. He let his feet hang off the couch again. At the angle in which he was sitting, one foot touched the floor while the other just dangled over the edge. He was still half-way facing Doug.

Since his partner wasn't saying anything else, and Doug wasn't sure where to lead the conversation next, he settled on staring at the television instead. A different show was on now, and he still couldn't bring himself to focus on it. He was so relieved that he had gotten his partner and himself out of that school. A few hours ago, he was fairly sure that they would only leave the school in body bags.

Doug didn't like to think about hypothetical disasters, but for some reason he had himself wondering what he would do if someone had come to rescue them only after Tom had been killed. What would he have done if he had survived and Tom hadn't. He shuddered. He didn't think he could have lived with himself if his partner was killed.

"You okay, man," Tom asked him.

Penhall glanced over at his partner. Tom's wide, dark eyes were fixed on him, and they looked quite concerned. Doug must have worn an expression that showed the misery of his thoughts, "I'm fine," he assured his partner, "just thinking..."

Tom nodded, "yeah..." he started staring off as well.

But Doug didn't want his partner's thoughts to be filled with the same horrors as his just were. Or similar, equally horrifying possibilities and realities, "so," Doug started, trying to change the subject and keep his partner's thoughts occupied with trivial matters, "we've got the day off tomorrow, more or less... You want to hang out with me? Go to lunch, see an early movie or something?"

Tom shrugged, "maybe," he yawned and laid his cheek back against the sofa's cushion. He was still facing his partner, but closed his eyes again, "Doug?" he asked.

"Yeah?" Doug looked down at him. He looked so small and innocent in the over-sized clothing Doug had lent him. Even though Doug knew his thoughts were swimming with fear and dread, he looked quite peaceful with his eyes closed and his body laying so sleepily. He didn't look at all tense or worried on the outside.

"I was so scared," Tom mumbled. He sounded like he was half asleep, "What he was doing to me was terrible, but it was about to get so much worse. You saved me just in time... it's all a blur. I think..." he paused. For a moment Doug wondered if he had fallen asleep in mid-sentence, because it took him a while to finish his thought, "I was so panicked, that I just blocked everything out. One minute he was right there behind me, his hands all over me, and I was just wanted to die. Then everything went dark and the next thing I knew you were there talking to me. Everything happened so fast."

"Blocking it out is your mind's way of protecting you," Doug told him, "I'm sure you were terrified. I wish I could have convinced Gale to let me go sooner, so we could have avoided all of whatever he did to you before I got there."

Tom fell forward very slightly, "mmm hm," he agreed.

"But you're okay now," Doug reminded him.

With his eyes still closed, Tom reached out his hand, feeling around on the couch and on Doug's leg until Doug guessed at what he was looking for, grabbed his partner's hand with his own, and squeezed it gently.

"I don't know what I would have done if you hadn't saved me when you did," Tom frowned, "I actually wanted him to kill me instead of what he was about to do. If he'd done it, and then we escaped only afterward..." he paused, "I don't know if I could have lived with myself."

"You're perfectly safe now," Penhall rephrased, looking down at his partner's closed eyes. His eyebrows were knitted together with worry and his lips formed a slight frown, "and you can talk to me about this whenever you want to. Don't hold back. You can tell me anything. You don't have to deal with all this alone."

"I know," Tom's voice was soft and tired, "but I won't talk about it now. Not yet."

"Whenever you need me, I'll be here," Doug promised, "just keep in mind that you're okay. That's what really matters. No matter what he did to you, he can't do it again, to you or to anyone else. You're alright."

Tom leaned against his partner's arm. He seemed mostly, if not completely asleep. But he murmured one last thing, "because you saved me."

Doug frowned, "yeah," he wrapped his arm around Tom's shoulders and kept a hold of his hand.

Hanson didn't say anything more, and Penhall decided to keep quiet as well. If Tom was finally asleep, Doug wasn't going to risk ruining it by speaking or moving, so he just stayed perfectly still and completely silent.

With his arm around his partner, he could feel the steady rise and fall of Hanson's body as he breathed in and out. It was a very satisfying feeling, having his partner here in his arms, breathing calmly and looking peaceful, knowing his best friend was safe, knowing no one could hurt him now.

For a while, Doug sat on the sofa, just watching his partner sleep. He hoped Tom's dreams were as peaceful as he looked on the outside. He couldn't imagine how scared his partner must have felt. Sure, he himself felt tremendous fear for his partner, but Tom must have felt a hundred times more terrified. Doug had never even come close to being raped. He hoped he never would, and still couldn't believe how close Tom had come. He wondered if Tom would be changed by this. It was impossible for Doug to really understand what his partner was going through or how he felt, because he'd never experienced anything like it himself. And of course he didn't really have all the details either. He couldn't expect to understand what had happened to Tom if Tom wouldn't tell him what it was.

He shook his head, not wanting to think about that. However, it was a difficult thought to shake free. Tom must have felt so helpless, his hands locked up, his body already weak from abuse and struggle, forced to undress and at the complete mercy of a sadistic man who was quite a bit bigger than Tom was.

Doug hoped his partner would never experience anything even remotely close to that again. As long as Penhall was on the case with him, and even if he wasn't, he was going to do anything and everything possible to make sure his partner stayed safe.

The thought of losing his partner wasn't something he ever really thought of before tonight. Sure, there were moments, and even somewhat lengthy spans of time where he wasn't sure about his partner's safety, but every time, he always assumed they'd find him in time, or he'd get out of whatever trouble he was in. He had never seriously thought Hanson might be killed. Just remembering how that felt made him determined to make sure he'd never have to think like that again.

Since he didn't want to wake his partner, Doug decided to stay on the sofa. He hoped Hanson wouldn't think it was awkward, but Doug considered him his best friend and didn't mind staying with him at all.

He could plainly see his presence was comforting to Tom, because the young officer actually snuggled in closer and wore a slight smile on his face. Maybe Tom would feel embarrassed when he woke up in this position, but Doug didn't care. Right now, his partner seemed at ease, and Doug wasn't going to mess that up.

Penhall laid his head down on the back of the couch. He kept his arm wrapped firmly around his best friend and closed his eyes. At this moment, he felt everything was going to be alright; any worries he or Hanson felt could be dealt with tomorrow. For now, they would just relax and forget the world. In his state of exhaustion, he was asleep in no time.

_The End_

* * *

**_Author's Notes: Thank you to everyone who has read and or reviewed this story. I appreciated all the praise as well as the criticism. I'm sorry if you feel like this ended without closure, but I don't think Tom is ready to talk to Doug in detail about what Stern did to him. He might not be ready to say anything about this for quite some time and I didn't think drawing the story out for a few more days or weeks or months would be a good idea either. For now, this is where it ends._**

**_It is entirely possible that I will feel compelled to write a sequel to this. As you can see, many pieces are in place where that could work: Gale might not get a very long prison sentence and is obviously a fucking creepy freak who may return for vengeance; Tom hasn't really talked to Doug about all this, or Fuller(if he's even going to tell him at all)... So many things I could cover... It's just a matter of if I feel like writing it or not. We'll just see... If I do write it though, we are all going to ignore the fact that it often takes up to a few years for people to go to trial... I'm also probably not going to do tons of research on prison sentences for accomplices to murder and all of the other crimes Gale committed... It won't be entirely realistic... But I might not write it at all. Writing these takes up a lot of time and effort, so I may not be up to the task... Don't get your hopes up. I hate disappointing people.  
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**_I welcome any suggestions though, on what kinds of things I could include in a possible sequel. I may not use your suggestions, but I'll consider them at least. This hypothetical sequel may be posted as extra chapters to this, or may be posted as a separate story. I'm not sure which would be most logical... Let me know what you think...  
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**_At any rate, I sincerely hope you liked the conclusion and the story as a whole. I worked pretty hard on it and it consumed a lot of my time. I had fun writing it and reading all your wonderful reviews, so I hope you had fun reading it and writing those reviews. :) Please have a wonderful day. I love you all.  
_**


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